Africa has signed agreements aimed at deepening trade and economic integration, but a lack of trust between national institutions continues to prevent those commitments from translating into a truly connected continental market, leaders have said.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Africa Mindset Reset Forum on Wednesday, August 26, Kenya’s Principal Secretary, State Department for Foreign Affairs, Korir Sing’oei, said African countries still place too little trust in one another’s regulators, standards and institutions.

As a result, businesses are often forced to repeat regulatory processes that should already be recognised across borders, increasing costs and delaying access to markets.

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The two-day forum, convened by the African School of Governance (ASG), brought together African leaders, policymakers, business executives, academics and young people to examine how the continent can move from long-standing ambitions to practical action.

Sing’oei pointed to non-tariff barriers within the East African Community as an example, arguing that many arise because countries are reluctant to rely on regulatory decisions made by neighbouring states.

"A product that has already been certified in one African country can still face another lengthy approval process before it is allowed into another market. The real question is, how do we build confidence and trust that our regulatory institutions can be relied upon?” he said.

"The problem is not necessarily the absence of standards or regulatory bodies, but the failure to recognise and trust decisions made by equivalent institutions elsewhere on the continent.”

Sing’oei contrasted Africa’s experience with Europe, where a product certified as fit for sale in one country can move across several other markets without undergoing the same approval process in each country.

In Africa, he said, obtaining a licence to sell a product in another market can take years.

"The licensing process might take up to two, three or four years to be able to get licensed, to be able to sell that commodity in the next country,” he said.

Such delays add costs for businesses and undermine the purpose of continental trade agreements designed to make it easier for African firms to access markets beyond their home countries.

Bilateral solutions

The Rwanda-Kenya relationship was cited as an example of how practical agreements can help remove some of the barriers created by fragmented systems.

Sing’oei said bilateral arrangements between the two countries have improved connectivity, including allowing RwandAir to operate direct flights to Mombasa.

"That in itself cuts costs quite a lot. Travellers no longer have to fly to Nairobi before connecting to Mombasa,” he said.

However, he said bilateral arrangements can only go so far and broader continental solutions are still needed.

Sing’oei said ASG will take the discussion further through a Global Trust Summit scheduled for October 22–23. The summit is expected to bring together regulators, government officials, private-sector representatives, civil society and young people to examine ways of rebuilding trust across the continent.

The objective, he said, is to create a more trusting environment in which African businesses can operate across borders with fewer barriers.

Mindset and institutions

ASG has positioned the Africa Mindset Reset Forum as a platform for moving beyond discussions about Africa’s potential towards practical action and stronger institutions.

ASG President Francis Gatare said Africa also needs to confront a wider erosion of confidence between citizens and governments, as well as between governments and institutions.

"The continent’s integration challenges cannot all be explained by mindset alone. Some require technical, regulatory and financial solutions. But where a solution already exists, the right mindset is needed to implement it,” he said.

"Many times a solution is known, the tools for implementing the solution are known, but people are handicapped from executing or implementing those solutions because they are being held hostage by negative mindsets.”

Gatare identified fear of failure as one of the mindsets that can prevent leaders and institutions from acting even when they have enough information to make decisions.

Rather than waiting for a perfect solution, he said, institutions should act on the information available, learn from mistakes and adjust.

The same principle, he suggested, applies to relations between African states: agreements alone cannot create integration if countries remain reluctant to rely on one another.

Gatare said the forum would not end with discussions held in Kigali. ASG is expected to follow up on commitments and collaborative initiatives emerging from the meeting and track their progress ahead of the second Africa Mindset Reset Forum next year.

He said the annual forum would provide an opportunity to assess what had been delivered and hold participants accountable for commitments made at the inaugural edition.