Pluchi ChibuzorProminent pan-African corporate leaders have called for an urgent end to market fragmentation across the region, warning that the continent will remain globally competitive only in theory until it dismantles artificial trade barriers. Yamson further observed that while non-African multinationals are often welcomed with open arms, home-grown African conglomerates routinely face bureaucratic resistance across regional borders. “By 2050 Africa will probably be about 1.4, 1.6 billion people equal to the population of China and India. According to the African Union Secretariat, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a market of 1.4 billion people with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of roughly $3.4 trillion. However, intra-African trade stubbornly hovers between 15% and 21% of the continent’s total trade volume – paling in comparison to intra-Asian trade at nearly 60% and intra-European trade at over 68%.