The Chief Executive Officer of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, has emphasized that political commitment not financial constraints is the biggest challenge to making the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) fully operational.
Speaking at the 2025 Citi Business Forum under the theme “The Global Tariffs Dispute: Navigating Ghana’s Recovery Strategy,” she noted that African leaders frequently sign agreements like AfCFTA but fail to follow through with local policies and regulations that ensure effective implementation. She challenged the widespread belief that a lack of funds is Africa’s primary economic obstacle.
“I will say political commitment. We sign the agreement, but then, when it comes to putting in place local policies and regulations to actually implement it, it becomes problematic. We like saying we don’t have money on the continent,” she said.
Owusu-Gyamfi pointed out that African governments often overlook revenue lost due to multinational corporations failing to comply with tax regulations.
“The problem is we have money, but it is deployed in the wrong way. We have pension funds that are garnering very low interest rates sitting in the US. Our tax system whenever we talk about illicit financial flows, we like to talk about the money our politicians are taking out. We don’t fight for the money that large international corporations are taking out that we are not getting back as taxes. So for me, money is not the problem,” she said.
Her remarks have reignited discussions about the need for African governments to prioritize policy action to strengthen regional trade agreements like AfCFTA, ensuring that their benefits are realized across the continent.
