Africa Must Remove Trade Barriers to Turn Food Corridors into Engines of Competitiveness

Africa has significant agricultural potential, yet the fragmentation of its markets continues to restrict the movement of food products between production zones, processing centres and major consumption markets. Speaking at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Director General of AUDA-NEPAD, called for faster dismantling of the trade and logistics barriers that constrain intra-African agricultural trade.

The issue goes far beyond agricultural production. It directly affects the performance of African logistics corridors, transport costs, transit times, infrastructure investment and the ability of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to create genuinely integrated regional markets.

Africa’s Food Markets Face a Structural Paradox

The continent faces a persistent contradiction: some regions produce agricultural surpluses while others experience supply shortages. Yet these products do not always move quickly or efficiently enough between areas of surplus and areas of demand.

According to Nardos Bekele-Thomas, part of the surplus produced on the continent fails to reach markets where demand is strongest.

This situation creates several inefficiencies at the same time: farmers struggle to access buyers, processing facilities operate below capacity, and consumers face high and volatile food prices.

The challenge is therefore not simply one of agricultural production. It is increasingly a question of whether African food products can move efficiently across borders.

Food Corridors Are Becoming a Strategic Logistics Priority

Developing food corridors linking agricultural production areas with processing centres and high-demand markets is emerging as a key strategic response.

Reducing Transit Times and Post-Harvest Losses

For perishable agricultural products, every disruption in the supply chain can lead to product deterioration and higher final costs.

Well-designed food corridors can connect:

production areas → logistics platforms → processing facilities → regional markets.

The objective is therefore not simply to build more roads. It is to create logistics chains capable of maintaining regular, predictable and competitive flows.

Reducing waiting times at border crossings, improving road and rail infrastructure, and modernising logistics platforms can all contribute to faster and more reliable movement of agricultural goods.

Tackling the Logistics Cost Challenge

For African shippers, corridor competitiveness cannot be measured solely by distance.

It also depends on cargo dwell times, customs procedures, repeated inspections, handling costs and infrastructure reliability.

A faster and more predictable corridor allows companies to plan procurement more efficiently and reduce costs associated with delays, cargo immobilisation and supply-chain disruptions.

AfCFTA Faces the Implementation Test

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides a major framework for reducing the fragmentation of African markets.

However, its effectiveness will depend largely on the ability of governments to translate trade commitments into actual physical flows.

The central question is therefore becoming:

Can African agricultural products cross borders quickly, reliably and at competitive cost?

This is precisely where corridor development becomes critical.

Reducing tariffs may not be enough if a truck carrying agricultural products simultaneously faces long delays at a border crossing, repeated inspections or incompatible administrative procedures.

Customs and Border Interoperability: The Critical Link

AUDA-NEPAD has stressed that physical infrastructure alone will not solve Africa’s trade and logistics challenges.

Interoperable customs systems are becoming increasingly important.

Moving from National to Corridor-Based Thinking

Agricultural value chains are increasingly transnational.

A product can be grown in one country, processed in another and sold in a third. This reality requires a different approach to border management.

Performance should increasingly be measured at the level of the entire logistics corridor, rather than focusing exclusively on individual roads or border posts.

This requires, among other measures:

• digitalisation of customs procedures;
• harmonised documentation;
• fewer redundant inspections;
• improved border facilities;
• development of multimodal transport;
• stronger coordination between public authorities and private operators.

What This Means for African Shippers

For shippers, corridor efficiency directly determines their ability to secure supplies and reach new markets.

A high-performing food corridor should provide greater visibility and predictability over the time required to move cargo from origin to destination.

This transit predictability is particularly important for food processors, distributors, importers and exporters.

It can also encourage investment in regional processing capacity.

When logistics flows become reliable enough, companies can increasingly consider producing for a regional market rather than limiting their operations to a single national market.

Why This Matters for African Corridors

Food corridors are not only an agricultural issue. They affect port performance, road and rail transport, border posts, last-mile logistics and regional processing capacity.

For shippers, the objective is to create faster and more predictable corridors. For governments, the priority is to strengthen intra-African trade. For investors, the opportunity lies in the infrastructure and logistics services capable of removing friction from these flows.

A Regional Challenge for ECOWAS, EAC and SADC

The challenge extends far beyond one region.

In West Africa, ECOWAS corridors can play a critical role in connecting agricultural production areas with ports and major consumption centres.

In East Africa, regional transport networks within the EAC can facilitate trade between production zones, logistics hubs and rapidly growing urban markets.

In Southern Africa, SADC corridors remain essential for connecting landlocked economies with maritime gateways and international markets.

The underlying logic is the same:

reduce border friction and improve the continuity of regional logistics chains.

Where Are the Investment Opportunities?

The transformation of food corridors creates investment opportunities across several interconnected segments.

Storage infrastructure, cold-chain logistics, logistics platforms, agro-processing facilities and digital cargo-tracking systems could become increasingly strategic assets.

Development finance institutions also have an important role to play in reducing the risks associated with cross-border infrastructure projects.

The investment challenge is therefore no longer limited to roads and railways. It is about financing the complete logistics ecosystem required to move goods efficiently across Africa.

Making Food Corridors an Infrastructure of African Integration

The AUDA-NEPAD call comes at a time when African trade integration is entering a phase in which implementation is becoming as important as political commitments.

AfCFTA can establish the framework for a continental market, but corridors, border posts, transport infrastructure and logistics systems will determine whether African products can actually move across that market.

The next step is therefore to move from a national infrastructure approach towards an integrated corridor-performance model.

Better connections between production areas and markets could simultaneously reduce post-harvest losses, improve business competitiveness, support local processing and strengthen food security.

The real test of African economic integration will increasingly be the continent’s ability to move its own goods across its borders as efficiently and competitively as possible.