The Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, has called on African nations to urgently unify their trade policies in response to the sweeping tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, warning that the continent’s economic future depends on deeper integration and self-reliance.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC Africa, Mene said the unilateral tariffs introduced by the United States have disrupted global trade flows and exposed the vulnerability of Africa’s fragmented markets.
He emphasised that no single African country can withstand the pressure of these global trade shifts on its own.
“The good news out of this crisis is that our heads of state understand that there is not a single market in Africa that will survive on its own,” Mene stated. “We will have to leverage our combined efforts, market size, and population to remain globally competitive.”
President Trump has introduced a raft of “reciprocal” tariffs on countries around the world, including several African nations, under claims that the U.S. has long been taken advantage of in international trade.
However, many economists have questioned both the rationale and fairness of these tariffs, particularly as smaller economies like Lesotho have faced some of the steepest increases, up to 50 per cent.
China, in response to heightened U.S. tariffs, has retaliated with countermeasures, including a 125 per cent tariff on American goods, after earlier tariffs were raised to 145 per cent.
The escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies have further destabilised global markets and placed developing economies under increased strain.
In Africa, the U.S. tariff regime has cast serious doubt on the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a U.S. trade policy that had previously offered duty-free access to American markets for qualifying African countries. The AGOA pact is set for renewal this year, but Mene believes its relevance has already faded.
“AGOA is no longer alive,” Mene asserted. “If we look at the measures the U.S. has introduced—both tariff and non-tariff—it’s clear that the program has been effectively dismantled. We must remember it was a unilateral preference.”
Mene cautioned that the economic disruption is not limited to the continent’s largest economies, such as Nigeria and South Africa, but is also taking a toll on smaller nations, including Lesotho, Madagascar, Angola, and Kenya. He said the moment should serve as a wake-up call for Africa to diversify its trade relationships and strengthen intra-continental commerce.
“Depending on the benevolence of others is not going to get us anywhere,” Mene said. “We have to redouble efforts to build our own domestic market. Intra-African trade remains under 20 per cent. That must change.”
He cited Ethiopia as a case study in resilience, noting how the country managed to double its exports by shifting trade partnerships toward China after being excluded from AGOA.
Looking ahead, Mene said African trade ministers are actively revisiting the tariff reduction frameworks negotiated in 2017 to accelerate the full implementation of the AfCFTA, given that the global economic landscape has shifted dramatically.
“It’s a very different world today,” Mene concluded. “We must now ask: how do we adapt our liberalisation models to reflect the current realities and ensure that Africa stops spending $50bn annually importing grain when it has the potential to feed itself?”
As Africa navigates this challenging terrain, calls are growing for a more coordinated and assertive approach to continental trade, one that prioritises African value chains and regional self-sufficiency over reliance on unpredictable global markets.