PROMOTING AFRICAN INTRA-TRADE TO UNLOCK AGRICULTURAL POTENTIAL IN
AFRICA
African intra-trade refers to the exchange of goods and services conducted within African
continent. It can be conducted through various channels, such as through direct transactions
between individuals or businesses, through intermediaries such as wholesalers and retailers,
or through international trade organizations. African countries have been engaging in trade
and business for a long time now. Since agricultural is a mostly engaged economic activity in
Africa, it needs to be promoted for the continent growth.
As an African leader the following are the things, I could do to promote African intra-trade to
unlock agricultural potential.
Single currency system backed up by natural resources abundant in Africa: A currency
is a medium of exchange that is used to facilitate the trade of goods and services. It is a type
of money that is used within a particular country or economic region. There are 52 countries
in Africa, each one using its own currency. Our regional economic cooperation’s too are
formed with each country using its currency. Taking the East African Community, EAC an
example with six countries very geographically close but still there is no single currency system
established and their countries have an economic motive to foster economic development via
inter-economic activities such as trade. If you get charged with fine in any weighbridge in any
country in EAC, all payments are invoiced in US-Dollars. The reason they did so was that they
knew they needed a single currency, but they just didn’t create one instead chose the dollar.
Africa is abundant with Gold and other minerals which are known to be found only in Africa,
especially Tanzanite from Tanzania, these could be used to backup a single currency system.
Officialize Swahili language as an official language of African nations: Language is a key
player in communication. For people to conduct any economic activity such as trade there
must me a medium they can communicate and understand each other.
Swahili language is a popular and well-known language in Africa spoken by countries such as
Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia. But sad enough even the African Union, AU with 55 member
states formed in July 2002 has adopted Swahili as an official language in 2022, 20 years later.
This shows that there has been a lack of promotion to Swahili language to be used as an
official language in Africa.
Suppression of internal wars and conflicts: One of the purposes of African Union, AU is to
promote unity and solidarity of African states. There has been a lot of internal conflicts in
African countries, and even further what happened in February 2022 is the worst, General
Paul Kagame threating to invade the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). All these happens
with AU watching without any pre-emptive measures. The practices of once country exercising
military power over another must end in Africa. We can’t be in good terms to do trade if that
still happens.
Establishing inter-communication channel projects: Logistics is among the activities in
trade and business, it’s a process of planning, organizing, and managing the movement and
storage of goods, services, and information from a point of origin to a point of consumption.
For Tanzania to do trade with DRC there must be a communication channel, roads, railways,
and airways. The former Tanzania’s president the late Dr John Pombe Magufuli initiative to
construct a Standard Gauge Railway, SGR from Dar-es-salaam to Kigoma which will fasten
cargo transit at 160Kmph was a good intent to establish communication between Tanzania
and DRC with neighboring landlocked countries.
In general, African intra-trade holds great potential for unlocking the continent's agricultural
potential and driving economic growth and development. African leaders have a key role to
take initiative and to play in promoting this trade and creating an enabling environment for it
to thrive. The regional economic corporations being established must also be in the frontline
towards this. Some of the steps that they could take include negotiating and signing regional
trade agreements, investing in infrastructure, and supporting smallholder farmers. By taking
these steps, African leaders can help to create a more integrated, prosperous, and sustainable
continent.