continental trade is one of the crucial tools that can integrate economies Although there are immense benefits of intra-continental trade, sadly, African countries are still to unlock the benefits of trading amongst themselves. This is because, according to the 2020 African Trade Statistics Yearbook, the “share of intra-African trade remains low: on average 13 percent over the period of the last seven years (2013-2019).”
Statistics also show that trade between the African Union (AU) member states and the rest of the world accounts for around 80 percent of the continent’s total trade. This means African countries have been targeting other continents more than their own. Over the past few years, China has been the largest AU trading partner, taking 16 percent of Africa products, and supplying the same markets with 19 percent of their total imports. Read More.
