Former Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, is challenging African leaders to adopt a unified and strategic approach to enhance intra-African trade.
He stressed that fostering a collective mindset among African nations is key to unlocking the continent’s full economic potential.
Speaking at the first forum of the 2025 Citi Business Festival, Dr. Spio-Garbrah highlighted the need for stronger collaboration across African economies.
“Increased cooperation will help us overcome longstanding trade barriers such as inadequate infrastructure, regulatory challenges, and limited access to market information. There’s a collective objective we’ve had for 34 years that remains unfulfilled. Beyond that, we must leverage the African Union and other pan-African institutions to drive deeper integration”, he noted.
Emmanuel Mensah, Head of Trade and Working Capital at Absa Bank Ghana, also spoke at the event.
He criticised Ghana’s slow response to global trade tensions, particularly between the United States and China.
“As a country, we’ve been too late in strategising to navigate the complex geopolitical landscape,” Mensah said.
“We must urgently invest in building trade intelligence systems. Agencies like Ghana’s Customs Division must play a more proactive role in gathering and analyzing economic data.”
Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, CEO of the African Centre for Economic Transformation, called on both government and private sector leaders to operationalise the Akosombo Corridor to unlock trade opportunities with neighboring countries.
“For me, discussions around the EU or U.S. taking our raw materials and adding value are distractions,” she said. “We need to prioritize regional infrastructure like the Lobito and Akosombo corridors.”
Michael Kottoh, Managing Partner at Konfidants, echoed the call for a mindset shift among African leaders.
“We have a mindset problem. Until we change that, we cannot transform our economies,” he said. “We keep having these brilliant discussions, yet we remain stagnant.”
Forum participants also shared concerns about the impact of imports on local industries. Professor Eric Osei-Assibey, Chief Economist at Development Bank Ghana (DBG), warned that Ghana’s textile industry is under threat due to competition from low-cost imports, particularly from China.
“We must focus on supporting indigenous firms to produce competitively,” he said.
Meanwhile, Samson Asaki Awingobit, Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, questioned why African countries are yet to establish a dedicated trade vessel to support intra-African commerce.
The 2025 Citi Business Festival Forum was held under the theme “Global Tariff Disputes: Navigating Ghana’s Recovery Strategy.”
It was sponsored by Absa Bank, MTN, and Zonda Tech Ghana Limited, and powered by Channel One TV and Citi FM.
