Industry leaders, policymakers and trade experts gathered today with a solitary mission: to set Africa’s gears turning from the outside inwards.
The launch of the Africa Trade Engine (ATE) earlier today signals more than a new initiative. It is a promise: to move African industry off the sidelines and into the heart of global value chains.
For decades, Africa’s economic narrative has been written in raw commodity exports, fragmented markets and trade routes that end at its borders.
Thus, the unveiling of Africa Trade Engine, a pioneering joint venture between TRT Manufacturing and TradeDepot, marks a transformative step in building Africa’s industrial and trade self-sufficiency.
ATE is designed as a private-sector engine for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with a mission to drive trade and job creation, enabling global and African brands to produce in Africa, and reach African markets faster and more reliably.
Turning Trade Theory into Trade at Work
“The talking is over. Africa Trade Engine ensures Africa’s industrialisation, intra-continental trade, and sustainable job creation are not future aspirations but operational realities,” said Adam Molai, chairman of ATE.
“Built by African hands and powered by African enterprise, ATE transforms trade theory into trade at work, proving that Africa can manufacture competitively, distribute efficiently, and grow inclusively.”
ATE combines TRT Manufacturing’s industrial expertise in product formulation, manufacturing, quality assurance, export packaging, and plant operations with TradeDepot’s digital distribution infrastructure, market access, and trade data analytics.
Together, they unlock a continent-wide manufacturing and logistics ecosystem linking regional production hubs from South Africa to Benin, as well as active distribution points in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
Reshaping Africa’s Economic and Climate Future
“Africa’s shift from import dependency to local production is not just an economic imperative, it’s a job creation and climate game-changer,” said Kachi Izukanne, co-founder of TradeDepot and CEO of ATE.
It is aimed at uplifting youth employment and harnessing Africa’s youth dividend, where the median age is 19.7 years, as well as the trends of urbanisation and rising consumer demand.
Each facility will build technical expertise and stabilise local livelihoods.
“We are creating supply chain resilience with regionalised production networks ensuring continuity during global disruptions,” says Izukanne.
The ATE model also adds significant impetus to AfCFTA, where 54 signatories, 1.4 billion people, and a US$3.4 trillion GDP market open the door to immense opportunities and sustained growth.
By localising the production of essential FMCG, including household and personal care products, ATE addresses an estimated US $50 billion annual import gap while unlocking new intra-African trade corridors.
ATE’s distributed manufacturing and pack-out nodes were conceived as a direct response to the COVID-19 supply chain crisis, ensuring Africa never stalls again.
Local production also cuts long-haul transport emissions and supports national decarbonisation targets.
“Every kilometre of reduced shipping is a tangible carbon win. Each facility means livelihoods retained, families stabilised, and skills transferred locally. Manufacturing at home is migration policy in action — dignity and employment anchored in local economies,” says Izukanne.
ATE’s model will also deliver measurable and immediate impact across the data and tech fronts through:
- A Localisation Africa Index – A new benchmark for tracking and rewarding brands that localise manufacturing and sourcing.
- Data-Driven Competitiveness – Shared trade data, sector insights, and case studies drive smarter business and policy decisions.
- Partnership Power – Collaboration between industrial and digital leaders creates scalable, sustainable growth.
“The Localisation Index will be an accountability framework monitoring how multinational and local brands localise manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution. This will serve as a new ESG metric, offering investors and governments a transparent lens into who is truly ‘Made in Africa’ ” explains Izukanne.
Africa’s Resilience Blueprint
The TRT Manufacturing–TradeDepot partnership exemplifies ATE’s purpose: industrial know-how meets digital market access.
By pairing factory floors with a trade operating system, ATE is creating a connected ecosystem that ensures the goods Africa produces can move quickly, affordably, and compliantly across borders.
“ATE’s partnerships are Africa’s new trade architecture,” added Molai. “We are proving that cooperation is the continent’s greatest competitive advantage.”