Settlement challenges, not trade, slowing AfCFTA — Access Bank MD

By Juliet ETEFE

Payment and settlement systems remain the most critical barriers slowing the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Pearl Nkrumah, has said.

Speaking at a high-level panel session themed “From Boardrooms to Borders: Women Driving AfCFTA Agenda” at the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogues, Ms. Nkrumah stressed that trade integration on the continent cannot succeed without efficient, seamless and locally settled payment systems.

“Payment is very critical because when there’s no payment, trade is very slow in everything that we do,” she said, noting that addressing payment systems within the AfCFTA protocol would directly ease constraints faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women entrepreneurs and the youth.

She identified the creation of a true single African market — supported by integrated payment and settlement mechanisms — as essential to translating AfCFTA’s ambitions into tangible outcomes.

Ms. Nkrumah, who is also Chairperson of the Ghana Stock Exchange explained that while progress has been made in developing cross-border payment platforms, settlement remains heavily dependent on foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar.

“For me, the fact that after it’s all said and done, I still need to settle in US dollars is where the problem is. If I pay in Ghana cedis here, you should be able to receive it in Rwanda without us having to look for dollars in between,” she said.

She pointed to ongoing efforts under AfCFTA and regional payment initiatives such as the Pan?African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which is already operational to ease local?currency cross?border transactions, but argued that deeper political commitment is needed to move the idea of a single African currency — still largely at the discussion stage — from policy dialogue to execution.

“We’ve been able to say we need a payment platform across Africa, but we cannot continue to rely on the US dollar as the settlement currency,” she added.

Beyond payments, Ms. Nkrumah highlighted the importance of enabling platforms that allow women traders to collaborate, access markets and attract financing across borders.

She explained that trade-driven partnerships could help women-led enterprises transition from small-scale operations into suppliers, procurement partners and regional value chain players, unlocking both domestic and international capital.

Access Bank, she noted, has taken steps to support this vision through its AccessAfrica platform, which enables customers to send and receive money across the bank’s African network — often in local currency where supported — and through its integration with regional payment initiatives such as PAPSS to improve settlement in local currencies.

Ms. Nkrumah underscored that while progress is being made, sustained collaboration between policymakers, financial institutions and the private sector is needed to turn AfCFTA from “just talk to execution”.

The panel session brought together women leaders from government, academia, business and civil society to examine how women are shaping Africa’s economic future through leadership, innovation and cross-border collaboration.

Other panellists included Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo; Executive Chair of Plot Enterprises, Patricia Poku Diaby; Deputy Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo; and Founder of the Women Ambassadors Foundation, Prof. Marie-Line Sephocle, moderated by Tshegofatso Motaung, Founder and CEO of Cedarleb.

Discussions also focused on unlocking finance for women-led enterprises, strengthening regional value chains, mentoring young entrepreneurs and ensuring that the AfCFTA protocol on women and youth in trade delivers concrete economic opportunities.

They also stressed that AfCFTA’s success for women would depend heavily on collaboration, skills development and digital readiness.

Prof. Amfo argued that academia cannot prepare Africa’s workforce for cross-border trade in isolation, highlighting partnerships with industry players, government and international institutions to build innovation ecosystems.

She noted that while women account for about 70 percent of informal cross-border traders, low digital visibility and limited technological skills continue to constrain their growth.

“It doesn’t matter what a student studies; if they are not digitally literate when they graduate, survival in today’s economy will be difficult,” she said.

From the private sector, Ms. Diaby pointed to structural and policy bottlenecks that keep African producers locked into low-value trade. Using cocoa as an example, she said Africa produces nearly 80 percent of the world’s cocoa but remains a price-taker due to weak intra-African trade, limited processing and fragmented policies.

Border delays, restrictive regulations and inconsistent implementation of trade rules, she warned, impose severe costs through quality losses and delayed payments.

Deputy Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, echoed these concerns, calling for deliberate government action to simplify border procedures, digitise customs systems, adequately fund AfCFTA commitments and ensure gender-responsive implementation. “AfCFTA is not just a trade framework; it is a tool for social transformation,” she said, stressing that policies would only succeed if they changed how women conduct business daily.

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