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Intra-African commerce has overtaken China, Europe, and the United States as executives' principal target destination. However, intra-African merchandise trade remains stalled at 15-18 per cent of total exports, showing negligible change despite the operational rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The survey, now in its sixth year and expanded from 400 respondents in 2021 to over 2,500 in 2026, is the most robust barometer of African executive sentiment on trade available. Its findings point to a continent where the appetite for regional integration is outpacing the systems designed to enable it.
A $31 billion penalty on African trade
At the centre of that structural gap sits a financing barrier that goes beyond access to capital. African sovereign and institutional borrowers consistently attract risk ratings from Western credit agencies that, according to IFC analysis, impose an estimated excess premium of $31 billion annually.
“The core issue is risk perception, or what many of us call a prejudice premium," said Professor Patrick Utomi, Chairperson of PAFTRAC. "When capital is priced so that an economy actively at war receives more competitive financing than a stable, peaceful African sovereign, the system is misreading reality. Outdated global rules and subjective rating methodologies are imposing a direct tax on African trade.”
The consequences are dire. A total of 57 per cent of the executives surveyed described access to trade finance for cross-border transactions as difficult or very difficult. The IFC estimates Africa's SME financing gap at more than $331 billion.
Implementation is the bottleneck
The survey's findings on the AfCFTA reveal a sharp divide between commercial goodwill and operational reality. While 70.2 per cent of respondents report a tangible operational impact from AfCFTA-related reforms, awareness of the agreement's practical execution mechanisms remains critically low.
More than half of respondents are unfamiliar with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a framework designed to bypass the friction of dollar clearing in intra-African transactions. Knowledge of the E-Tariff Book, the African Trade Observatory and the AfCFTA's non-tariff barrier reporting tools is similarly limited.
Full report: October 2026
The presentation was the first public unveiling of the survey's preliminary findings. The full 2026 PAFTRAC Africa CEO Trade Survey Report is scheduled for publication in October 2026. It will provide a comprehensive analysis of trade barriers, AfCFTA implementation progress, and financing constraints, and feature private-sector policy recommendations drawn from over 2,500 executives across the continent.
To register interest in the full report or attend the launch webinar, please visit: https://apo-opa.co/4rRN0y2
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC).
Notes to Editors:
The preliminary findings were presented at the WTO Public Forum 2026 in Geneva on 16 September 2026, in a session convened by Afreximbank and PAFTRAC. The session panel comprised Professor Patrick Utomi (PAFTRAC), Helina Bischoff (Swiss-Africa Business Circle), Miyoba Lubemba (International Trade Centre) and Vasiliki Mavroeidi (OECD Development Centre), moderated by Lukwesa Burak (African Business Magazine).
Media enquiries:
For more information on the PAFTRAC Africa CEO Trade Report 2026, including access to the full presentation of preliminary results, please contact Rawan El Araby via email at r.elaraby@icpublications.com
About PAFTRAC:
The Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) unites African private-sector leaders and provides a unique advocacy platform that brings together the African private sector and African policymakers to support extra- and intra-African trade, investment, and pan-African enterprise. The platform drives pan-African results by providing a framework for private-sector engagement on trade and investment issues in Africa, including policy formulation and trade negotiations, to support African economies in line with the ambitions of Agenda 2063: “The Africa We Want”. PAFTRAC enhances advocacy and supports policy actions and recommendations of the private sector on trade, and investment issues at the national, trade corridor, regional and multilateral levels.
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