African business leaders are urging faster implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), saying infrastructure bottlenecks, limited trade financing and fragmented supply chains continue to constrain intra-African commerce and industrial growth.
The Africa Business Leaders Coalition (ABLC), a CEO-led platform convened by the UN Global Compact, launched a position paper at the Africa CEO Forum outlining five “mindset shifts” it said are needed to accelerate regional integration and strengthen African value chains under AfCFTA.
The paper, Five Mindset Shifts to Unlock Intra-African Trade: A Perspective from African CEOs, presents a private-sector-led roadmap focused on cross-border collaboration, industrial production, labour mobility, infrastructure connectivity and faster execution of trade reforms.
AfCFTA could increase African exports by 68% and more than double foreign direct investment by 2035, according to highlights released with the paper. But business leaders said unlocking that potential would require governments, companies and regional institutions to move beyond policy commitments and address practical barriers to trade, investment and mobility.
UN Global Compact CEO and Executive Director Sanda Ojiambo said Africa had the resources, talent and entrepreneurial base to become a major engine of global growth, but needed deeper collaboration to remove barriers and build infrastructure that supports trade.
The paper calls on African economies to view continental collaboration as a strategic advantage, expand local manufacturing beyond raw material exports, treat talent mobility as an economic opportunity, develop interconnected infrastructure networks and act with greater urgency.
It also highlights opportunities to build regional value chains in agriculture, automotive manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, while investing in emerging technologies and workforce readiness, including artificial intelligence.
The push comes as development finance institutions including the African Development Bank, Afreximbank and IFC expand financing for trade corridors, industrial projects and regional infrastructure linked to AfCFTA implementation.
Alongside the trade paper, ABLC released its 2025 Voluntary Climate Action and Gender Equality Report, which showed members have mobilized $9.4 billion in climate finance since 2023, with about 90% directed toward climate mitigation and renewable energy projects.
The coalition said members also provided about $1.02 billion in investment and financing to women-owned SMEs in 2025.
ABLC includes 75 companies operating across 52 African countries, representing nearly one million employees and about $171 billion in combined annual revenue. Source details from the provided text.