African businesses favour intra-continental trade over global markets

African businesses increasingly prefer to trade across the continent’s borders over out-of-the-continent markets like Asia, the US, and Europe, due to the rising quality of made-in-Africa goods, lower market prices, and accessibility.

The latest Standard Bank Africa Trade Barometer, which tracks 10 African countries among the 54 signatory nations of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) shows 37% of the businesses prefer partners based in African markets compared to Asia(24%), Europe(16%) and North America(3%).

Businesses from Namibia (75%), Tanzania (48%) and Angola (43%) showed the highest affinity for cross-border trade compared to firms from some of the continent’s biggest economies- Nigeria (34%) and Kenya (34%) with a huge preference for Asian markets like China.

“Businesses surveyed report that trading within Africa is easier than trading with the rest of the world. This observation underlines their preferences in trading partners, revealing a significant lean towards engaging in commerce with African