Africa’s ambition to build a more integrated and prosperous economy rests on a simple principle: goods, people and capital must be able to move across borders safely and efficiently.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was created to make that ambition possible. Launched in 2021, the agreement seeks to establish a single continental market covering 55 countries and a combined economic market estimated at $3.4 trillion. Yet the success of this project will depend on more than reducing tariffs and simplifying customs procedures. It will also depend on whether Africa can secure the corridors through which trade takes place.
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That challenge is becoming increasingly urgent.
Intra-African trade remains relatively limited. UN Trade and Development puts the share of intra-African trade at about 16 per cent of the continent’s total exports. By comparison, trade within Europe is considerably more integrated. UNCTAD has consistently identified stronger regional supply chains and trade facilitation as critical to Africa’s ability to capture more value from its own markets.
AfCFTA offers an opportunity to change that equation. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa has described the agreement as a major instrument for reducing trade barriers, supporting industrialisation and strengthening Africa’s position in global value chains. The potential is significant, but implementation requires coordinated investment in transport, energy, digital infrastructure and customs systems.
Security is now an increasingly important part of that infrastructure.
Across parts of the Sahel, violent extremism has disrupted roads, markets, agricultural supply chains and cross-border movement. For traders operating in these environments, insecurity is not an abstract geopolitical concern; it can determine whether a shipment arrives, whether a business remains viable and, in the most devastating cases, whether traders return home.
The February 2026 killing of Ghanaian tomato traders in Titao, northern Burkina Faso, provided a stark illustration. The traders had travelled into Burkina Faso to purchase tomatoes when they were caught in a terrorist attack. Ghana’s government subsequently confirmed that eight Ghanaian citizens had died.
The incident also had immediate economic consequences. Ghana suspended tomato imports from Burkina Faso following the attack, while traders and consumers faced disruption to an important regional food-supply chain.
This is precisely where the security and trade agendas converge.
ECOWAS has recognised the need for stronger regional security capacity. The bloc has proposed beginning its regional counter-terrorism force with a 1,650-member brigade, with the longer-term ambition of scaling the force to 5,000 personnel. The plan also places greater emphasis on mobilising internal financial resources rather than relying overwhelmingly on external support.
Yet the region faces a complex political landscape. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have withdrawn from ECOWAS and formed the Alliance of Sahel States, creating new challenges for regional coordination. The geography of trade, however, does not change with political realignment. Commercial corridors continue to cross borders, and insecurity in one country can quickly affect neighbouring economies.
For that reason, rebuilding channels for security cooperation should be treated as part of Africa’s economic integration strategy. Intelligence sharing, coordinated border management, early-warning mechanisms and communication between security agencies can help protect the corridors on which regional commerce depends.
The same principle applies beyond West Africa.
In the Horn of Africa, instability has long affected transport routes and commercial activity, while countries such as Somalia continue to face the combined pressures of insecurity, climate shocks and limited fiscal capacity. Regional organisations such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the East African Community therefore have an important role to play in strengthening economic resilience through wider and more diversified regional markets.
Africa’s trade relationships with external partners also add another dimension. Investment from the Gulf, China, Europe and other international partners is contributing to major infrastructure projects across the continent. Roads, ports, railways and logistics corridors can expand Africa’s trading capacity, but their strategic importance means African governments must ensure that external investment complements rather than fragments continental integration.
The objective should be clear: African infrastructure should increasingly connect African producers to African consumers while also strengthening access to global markets.
This is where AfCFTA can become more than a trade agreement. Properly implemented, it can provide the framework for regional production networks in which agricultural goods, manufactured products, minerals and services move across borders with fewer barriers.
But such networks require confidence.
A manufacturer will not establish a regional supply chain if goods routinely disappear along transport routes. A farmer will struggle to supply a neighbouring market if border insecurity makes the journey too dangerous. A small business cannot benefit from continental market access if the cost of moving its products safely across borders becomes prohibitive.
Security, therefore, is not separate from economic integration. It is one of its foundations.
Africa has already built the institutional architecture for greater economic cooperation. The next challenge is to make that architecture work on the ground — at borders, along highways, in markets and across logistics corridors.
The opportunity presented by AfCFTA is too significant to be undermined by insecurity. Protecting Africa’s trade routes should consequently be treated as an economic priority as much as a security imperative.
The continent’s economic future will depend not only on how successfully it removes barriers between markets, but also on how effectively it protects the people and corridors that connect them. A truly integrated Africa will require linked markets, reliable infrastructure and secure routes working together.
