Africa risks undermining its long-term economic future unless small and medium-sized enterprises are fully integrated into continental trade, Ghana’s Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang warned on Wednesday, pointing to a widening export gap that threatens growth under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) 2026 in Accra, Opoku-Agyemang said fewer than 20% of African SMEs currently participate in cross-border trade, despite the sector accounting for more than 80% of employment and contributing significantly to GDP.
“A future that excludes young people, women and small enterprises is a crisis we cannot afford to sleepwalk into,” she said, urging African governments to move from economic fragmentation toward integration.
Women, Youth Exclusion Seen as Structural Risk
Opoku-Agyemang highlighted persistent barriers facing women-owned businesses, including limited access to finance, restricted mobility and constrained market access. She warned these challenges pose a macroeconomic risk by wasting over half of Africa’s human potential.
Without deliberate interventions to expand skills, improve access to capital and strengthen institutional support, she said many African economies could remain locked in low-productivity models, exporting raw materials while importing finished goods.
AfCFTA Needs Institutions, Not Just Protocols
The First Lady of Angola, Ana Dias Lourenço, echoed the warning, describing the economic exclusion of women and youth as a “serious structural risk” to Africa’s competitiveness.
“For AfCFTA to succeed, it must become a strategic instrument, not just a bureaucratic framework,” she said, calling for expanded access to green technologies, particularly for women farmers and young entrepreneurs.
Infrastructure, Finance Key to Scaling SMEs
Opoku-Agyemang stressed the importance of long-term policies, development finance institutions, and sustained infrastructure investment to unlock SME participation across borders.
She pointed to Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy Programme as an example of efforts to boost productivity by improving infrastructure, finance and institutional efficiency.
AfCFTA, the world’s largest free trade area by number of member states, spans 1.3 billion people across 54 signatory countries. African leaders say its success will depend on whether small businesses can trade as easily as large corporations.
