There’s trouble ahead for African exporters. The United States has slammed new tariffs on a range of African goods, leaving countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and Lesotho.
To find a way forward, the solution might just be to trade with each other, or risk being cornered again by external forces.
Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Transnational Inc., didn’t mince words in an interview with Bloomberg: “Now more than ever, African countries must focus on trading more with each other and creating a seamless framework for intra-continental commerce.” He’s right—and there’s no time to waste.
These tariffs are beyond numbers on a sheet, they are a direct hit to export-driven industries across sub-Saharan Africa. Textiles, apparel, and other non-oil products that once enjoyed duty-free access to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) are now facing stiff levies.
For Lesotho, the blow is a lot—up to 50% tariffs, the highest slapped on any sovereign nation. Nigeria’s non-oil exports now face a 10% tariff, a setback the government says could cripple the sector’s global competitiveness.
Let’s not pretend the US is Africa’s top customer—it’s not. China, the UAE, and India have that locked down. But Washington still matters. In 2023 alone, sub-Saharan Africa exported $29 billion worth of goods to the US.
That’s not pocket change. And the bigger problem? The ripple effect. If US-China trade tensions escalate—and they usually do—China might slow its demand for African exports too.
So what’s the plan?
Intra-African trade has been inching forward. It grew by 3.2% last year, reaching $192 billion. But here’s the thing: that still makes up just 15% of the continent’s total trade. Not enough.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is supposed to fix that. With 55 countries and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion, it promises to eliminate tariffs, connect 1.3 billion people, and turbocharge industrialisation.
But progress is painfully slow. Negotiations drag on. Tariffs are only part of the problem, and the CEO of Ecobank explains that order delays, visa restrictions, and poor logistics—especially for landlocked countries—make moving goods within Africa harder than shipping them abroad. If we don’t fix these, AfCFTA remains a paper tiger.
There’s also the economic fallout. These tariffs follow Trump’s earlier decision to freeze aid to Africa. Ecobank’s internal research warns that this double blow could shove six million more people into extreme poverty.
Meanwhile, the African Development Bank projected that Africa’s growth would rise to 4.3% in 2025, up from 3.7% in 2024. But that forecast now hangs by a thread, threatened by these very trade tensions.
The irony is hard to ignore. AGOA was meant to lift African economies. Since 2000, it has allowed over 7,000 products to enter the US duty-free. It helped build industries and create jobs. Now, Trump’s tariff wall threatens to tear that down.
Still, all isn’t lost.
Africa has a choice to make. Either keep depending on external markets that can flip the script overnight, or build internal resilience. That means adding value to raw materials, deepening intra-African supply chains, and rolling out AfCFTA like our lives depend on it—because they just might.
Africa cannot afford to wait for handouts or trade favours. According to the CEO of Ecobank, the future lies within.
