African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretary-General Wamkele Mene has urged South Africa to accelerate its focus on African markets, warning that ongoing trade uncertainty with the United States makes diversification essential.
Speaking in an interview with SABC News on South Africa’s trade options following U.S. tariff concerns, Mene stressed that the AfCFTA represents a $3.4 trillion market with a combined GDP and a population of 1.4 billion people, an opportunity South Africa is well equipped to seize.
“South Africa’s sophisticated manufacturing capabilities and value-added production in sectors like agriculture and industrial goods place the country in a strong position to benefit from this continental market,” Wamkele Mene said. He cited the nation’s $2 billion in vehicle exports and over $1.5 billion in value-added product exports to the U.S., noting that these figures illustrate South Africa’s proven export capacity.
He emphasized that South Africa has consistently been a leading exporter under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) over the past 25 years, even ranking as the second-largest non-crude oil exporter to the U.S. in 2023. However, he cautioned that “market certainty and predictability,” which the AfCFTA offers, are lacking in the U.S. and will remain absent “for the foreseeable future.”
From a policy standpoint, he endorsed the government’s strategy to diversify trade and prioritize Africa as an alternative market. To support this shift, the AfCFTA Secretariat negotiated a $1 billion trade finance facility with Afreximbank to help exporters of manufactured components, particularly in the automotive sector.
Drawing lessons from AGOA which took nearly a decade to yield significant export growth, Wamkele Mene highlighted the need for speed and flexibility. “We have already conducted market intelligence, mapping out which African countries are export-ready along the automotive and agricultural value chains, and which require imports to support domestic industries. Combining this analysis with political will, supportive policy, and secured trade finance can dramatically shorten the timeline to realize AfCFTA’s benefits,” he said.
He concluded by urging both policymakers and the private sector to act decisively: “We have to move quickly, and we have to be agile in how we negotiate with trade finance institutions, ensuring they can provide interim facilities to help our exporters take full advantage of Africa’s opportunities.”
