Africa’s Single Market Must Work for SMEs, Women & Youth”

Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to inclusive industrialisation and trade-led growth under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with a strong call for women, youth and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be placed at the centre of Africa’s single market agenda.

Delivering a keynote address at the Africa Prosperity Dialogue (APD) 2026 in Accra on Thursday, 5th February, the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said Ghana is translating AfCFTA ambitions into concrete actions focused on value addition, industrial growth and export expansion, with women’s empowerment deliberately integrated across all policy pillars.

Speaking on Day Two of the Dialogue, themed “Empowering SMEs, Women & Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade,” she described Accra’s hosting of the AfCFTA Secretariat as a symbol of Africa’s collective aspiration for integration and transformation. She noted that since trading commenced under the AfCFTA in January 2021, the continent has recorded nearly 50 ratifications, expanded participation in the Guided Trade Initiative, and adopted the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade — a binding commitment to inclusion.

“MSMEs account for over 90 per cent of businesses and the majority of employment across Africa. In Ghana, women lead nearly half of these enterprises, while our youthful population represents an unparalleled source of innovation and productivity. Empowering them is not optional — it is an economic imperative,” she stressed.

Hon. Ofosu-Adjare highlighted Ghana’s refocused industrial and trade policies under President John Dramani Mahama, including the expansion of the Ministry’s mandate to cover agribusiness and the launch of the Feed the Industry Programme to strengthen linkages between agriculture and industry. She outlined interventions that have sensitised more than 2,800 businesses on export procedures, equipped over 155,000 entrepreneurs with skills, supported more than 6,000 start-ups, and improved access to finance for women- and youth-led enterprises, with additional mechanisms activated under the World Bank-backed Ghana Economic Transformation Project.

She identified four priorities to fully unlock Africa’s potential under the AfCFTA: full operationalisation of the agreement, investment in digital and physical trade infrastructure, innovative financing solutions for women and youth enterprises, and stronger public-private and cross-border partnerships to scale regional value chains.

Complementing her address, the Minister for the Interior, Hon. Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, underscored the importance of security, migration governance and border management as critical enablers of integration. He cautioned that free movement must be matched with smart, technology-enabled border management to protect legitimate trade while tackling trafficking, terrorism and illicit trade. “Without security, trade cannot flourish, and without orderly mobility, integration cannot succeed,” he said.

Earlier, Mr. Sidig Faroug El Toum, Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Prosperity Network, described SMEs as the true drivers of Africa’s economic future, noting that they represent over 90 per cent of businesses on the continent, with women owning 58 per cent of enterprises and youth accounting for 65 per cent of start-up founders. He stressed that APD 2026 was designed to move beyond dialogue to practical solutions, bringing policymakers, financiers, regulators and entrepreneurs together to address access to finance, logistics, payments, skills gaps and value chain integration.

The Africa Prosperity Dialogue 2026 continues with high-level engagements aimed at translating AfCFTA policies into measurable outcomes that promote inclusive growth, industrialisation and shared prosperity across the continent.

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