Who is Leading the Africa Trade Movement?

As a key pillar of the African Union’s (AU) strategy to catalyze economic growth across the continent, the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2019 marked a historic milestone. Through the creation of a single market for goods and services, the ambitious initiative – the AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area in terms of participating countries – aimed to prioritize Africa and Africans by boosting intra-African trade and promoting deeper regional integration. Though largely shaped by the high-level policies and frameworks of a collective of multilateral organizations and government agencies that, to-date, have been the initiative’s main drivers, there has been a growing recognition in recent years of the need for more grassroots involvement to connect the grand vision with local realities, and ensure ordinary citizens not only have a voice in free trade conversations, but the capacity to take advantage of new opportunities.

In response, and with financial support from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF), the Atlas Network – a nonprofit organization that supports a global portfolio of independent think tanks focused on individual liberty, free markets, and limited government – created the George Ayittey Society. Named after the influential Ghanaian economist and advocate for African self-reliance, the Society’s innovative approach is fast-emerging as an important ally in the continent’s free trade movement.

“We realized the conversation about making Africa more prosperous is not just a concern for lawmakers and government ministers,” said Ibrahim Bàbátúndé Anọ́ba, an African affairs analyst and Senior Fellow of the Center for African Prosperity at the Atlas Network who is the Society’s coordinator.  

“We thought maybe there could be a better way to convene our African partners. We felt there was an imperative to create a more collaborative and collegial relationship among our Africa think tanks while also attracting external partners with aligned interests.” 

At its core, the George Ayittey Society has done just that. By bringing together CEOs, academics, and thought leaders from across Africa and its diaspora to exchange ideas and discuss strategies for economic development that have the potential to be blue-printed for broader application across the continent, Anọ́ba and his colleagues have created a platform that he describes as “uniquely positioned to support the success of the AfCFTA.”

“Ninety percent of the individuals in the society are CEOs of the respective think tanks we work with,” explained Anọ́ba. “They are having conversations about liberalizing trade within Africa for the benefit of African entrepreneurs. Our job is to bring them together in a forum to identify strategies that can be implemented across multiple countries towards that goal.”

Put another way, the Society's convening power is what makes it so impactful, particularly given AfCFTA’s numerous challenges. Mitigating obstacles such as underdeveloped infrastructure and energy systems, inefficient supply chains, regulatory differences, and bureaucracy requires both big picture thinking and local knowledge. The Society’s grassroots movement is giving local context to the AfCFTA’s big objectives while correcting the varied levels of the AfCFTA’s implementation across different African nations – some are advancing quickly, while others lag behind. Facilitating knowledge-sharing between key thought leaders in various countries is not only helping to uplift the latter, but is enabling more consistent progress across the continent. 

“The Society is not a think tank, but a group of think tank leaders focused on a collective strategy,” explained Anọ́ba. “It’s a privilege to have these people come together. We measure our success in terms of the level of collaboration we are able to catalyze. Our job is to convene and curate a platform and allow collaboration to flourish.” 

Though it steers away from policymaking, the Society is in alignment with the AfCFTA’s key goals to drive job creation, increase access to goods and services, and strengthen Africa’s role in the global economy. Practically, this means prioritizing education, entrepreneurship, and cultural exchange in ways that both highlight and support the critical need for capacity-building to help ensure Africa’s citizens – 70 percent of whom are under the age of 30 – are ready for prosperity.1

“The AfCFTA does not satisfactorily address the disproportionately young population in Africa, so we thought it would be beneficial if our partners factored in the realities of young people on the continent and engaged [them] in policy reform as it pertains to free trade,” said Anọ́ba. 

One such program, the Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE) in Accra, Ghana, is exploring ways to engage high school and university students. Launched in 2023 as an annual event, ACEYE’s George Ayittey Memorial Lecture seeks to examine the relevance of the late economist’s ideas in addressing contemporary challenges on the continent. By encouraging Africans to solve their own problems – like developing businesses that can navigate local infrastructure limitations – it is helping to prepare Africa’s workforce to meet the demands of a more interconnected economy while ensuring future African leaders can tackle any systemic challenges that remain.

“In Ghana, it’s hard to find work even if you’re a graduate. Chances are you’ll need to start a business, however, so it’s necessary that you’re prepared to be an entrepreneur, which is where programs like ACEYE’s come in,” said Anọ́ba.

From supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to initiatives that encourage African entrepreneurs to build businesses that cater to local needs and drive economic growth, the Society’s ability to shine a spotlight on the skills and knowledge young Africans will need to succeed is laying the groundwork for the kind of ecosystem the AfCFTA was designed to support.

“When the initiative was conceived, it was really for the big companies in Africa – like Dangote –to benefit,  not particularly for the petty trader on the street,” said Anọ́ba. “Institutions such as the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), as well as large companies and globally recognized business leaders, are far away from a person living on $200 per year, so they don’t understand these people’s realities. 

“There’s no way they can know what’s going on with young entrepreneurs in the same way as those on the ground in the concerned countries.”

For CDE Great Lakes (a George Ayittey Society partner), the AfCFTA presented an opportunity to pivot from entrenched central planning and the nationalization of key industries, which has influenced Burundi’s trade policies and kept the region in dire poverty. After undertaking two comprehensive studies – The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and its implications for the Burundian people and Non-tariff barriers in the East African Community, an obstacle to the integration of Burundi into the AfCFTA – the organization effected a knowledge transfer. The project, known as "unleash Burundi's commercial potential,”  translated the AfCFTA’s policies into language that everyone from small business owners and entrepreneurs to ordinary citizens and cross-border traders could understand which, in turn, led to the reduction and / or elimination of regulations – e.g., non-tariff barriers to trade – in Burundi, which benefits low-income cross-border traders.

“The dialogues brought together [stakeholders from] the provincial government, local elected officials, associations of small traders, customs agencies, regulatory agencies, the Ministry of Finance, senior civil servants, media professionals, banking institutions in border regions, small entrepreneurs, academic leaders in this region, transport associations, border police, immigration service, and civil society,” said Dr . Franck Arnaud Ndorukwigira, Research Director of the CDE Great Lakes and member of the George Ayittey Society.

To document the local realities, CDE Great Lakes produced a series of videos, filmed at the various borders, which highlighted the activities of cross-border traders, how they faced non-tariff barriers in the areas where they work, and how free trade was a source of prosperity with far-reaching regional benefits.

“[Our work led to] the development of a national strategy for the implementation of the AfCFTA in Burundi in 2023 and, in 2024, a presidential decree was signed that established missions, as well as the organization and operation of the national committee of the AfCFTA,” said Ndorukwigira. “[Today], the importation of food products such as dry beans, rice, cassava, corn flour, and sugar are exempt from the ad valorem tax of 1.5% of the customs value.”

By catalyzing conversations and providing resources for new research, the George Ayittey Society is bridging the critical gap between the larger policy framework of the AfCFTA and the grassroots movements so vital for its success. 

“We’re just getting started,” said Anọ́ba. “The society has only met twice and this is our first full year of existence so there hasn’t been much beyond sharing ideas and having strategic conversations.”

With plans to publish an anthology before the end of the year – ten chapters on topics that range from data connectivity markets and education reform to tackling corruption in state-owned oil companies and, of course, achieving the promise of the AfCFTA, written by various partners across the continent, including (to name a few) BudgIT Nigeria, Students For Liberty, Free Market Foundation, African Wildlife Economy Institute, (Stellenbosch University), Centre d’Études Diplomatique et Stratégique (CEDS) de Dakar, and IMANI (Ghana) – the Society shows no signs of slowing down. 

As the AfCFTA continues to unfold, the role of the George Ayittey Society will likely become even more critical. By empowering individuals, fostering collaboration, and promoting pan-African solidarity, the Society is helping to unlock Africa’s vast potential and ensuring the continent moves toward a more prosperous and interconnected future.

Photo credit: George Ayittey by Gage Skidmore, 2014.

1 https://www.un.org/ohrlls/news/young-people’s-potential-key-africa’s-sustainable-development