Made in Africa: Localising Production and Intra-African Trade

By Divine Adongo | Voices of Africa

In the industrial town of Aba, Nigeria, Chinedu runs a small factory producing quality leather shoes. His workers are young, his craftsmanship is exceptional, and his products could rival imports from Italy. But despite the demand, Chinedu’s shoes barely cross into neighboring Cameroon or Ghana — not because there’s no market, but because the roadblocks are endless: high tariffs, complex paperwork, border delays, and inconsistent standards. He dreams of scaling across the continent, but Africa has made that dream unnecessarily hard.

Chinedu’s story is not unique. All across Africa, from the textile workshops of Ethiopia to the shea butter cooperatives of Burkina Faso, local producers are working, innovating, and building with pride — but they face a fragmented marketplace. Africa trades more with Europe, Asia, and America than it does with itself. Intra-African trade stands at a mere 15%, compared to 68% in Europe. That is not just a statistic — it is a tragedy. Because it means African businesses are cut off from African markets, and African consumers are cut off from African solutions.

The question is simple: why are we importing tomatoes from Italy when Ghana grows them in abundance? Why do African airlines need to transit through Europe to fly to another African country? Why are our factories idle while our youth are unemployed? The answer lies in decades of colonial trade models, weak regional integration, and policy neglect. But the future doesn’t have to look like the past.

Enter the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) — a revolutionary opportunity to break these barriers and build a single African market of 1.4 billion people. If implemented effectively, AfCFTA can boost intra-African trade by over 50%, support industrialization, and shift Africa from being a raw material exporter to a value-added producer. But this won’t happen automatically. It requires intentional investment in local production and cross-border trade infrastructure.

This is where the AfCFTA Academy steps in — bridging the gap between policy and people. Through tailored training, business mentorship, and trade education, the Academy equips African entrepreneurs, informal traders, and youth-led enterprises with the tools to understand trade protocols, navigate customs procedures, meet product standards, and expand beyond national borders. It is turning the theory of AfCFTA into practice — one entrepreneur at a time.

Because producing “Made in Africa” goods is not enough. Those goods must move freely across Africa. That means harmonizing standards, simplifying customs, digitizing trade processes, and investing in infrastructure — from roads and rail to e-commerce and payment systems. But it also means changing mindsets. African consumers must begin to trust and choose African-made products. Governments must prioritize procurement from local industries. And investors must see value not just in raw exports, but in manufacturing, packaging, branding, and selling on the continent.

Local production is not only about economic growth — it’s about sovereignty, resilience, and dignity. COVID-19 exposed our overdependence on foreign supply chains. From face masks to food, Africa had to scramble for essentials. But it also showed what’s possible when we look inward. Across the continent, tailors turned into PPE manufacturers, and tech hubs built ventilators from scrap. The capacity is there — it just needs coordination, capital, and continental ambition.

AfCFTA offers the framework. The AfCFTA Academy provides the firepower — mobilizing a new generation of “Made in Africa” champions who are not just producers, but Pan-African trade leaders. They are proving that Africa’s future lies not in aid or extraction, but in local value creation and cross-border economic unity.

Chinedu in Aba doesn’t just want to make shoes — he wants to supply the African continent. And with the right policy environment, trade access, and technical support from initiatives like the AfCFTA Academy, he can.

Because Africa should not only wear African. Africa should trade with Africa. Build in Africa. And believe in Africa.