Africa’s economic sovereignty is an illusion as long as the continent remains dependent on financial infrastructure it did not build, does not control and cannot modify to serve its own interests.
Forty-seven of Africa’s 54 nations still conduct a majority of their international trade in US dollars or euros. Cross-border payments within Africa are routed through correspondent banks in London, New York and Frankfurt, adding cost, delay and foreign exchange risk to every transaction.
The African Continental Free Trade Area is the right idea at the right time. But the AfCFTA will not reach its transformative potential if African businesses continue to pay 8 percent transaction costs to move money from Lagos to Nairobi.
Africa needs a Pan-African payment system, a continental credit rating agency, an African Monetary Fund with meaningful resources, and ultimately a single African currency — not as a romantic aspiration but as a practical economic necessity.
