The Chairman of SIFAX Group, Taiwo Afolabi, has asserted that African countries must deliberately dismantle economic borders and foster larger corporate entities if the continent is to achieve meaningful, long-term economic independence and competitiveness on the global stage.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, Afolabi argued that Africa’s current reliance on fragmented, small-scale enterprises is actively choking its economic potential and insisted that sustainable growth will remain out of reach without a radical shift towards cross-border collaboration.
The corporate chief emphasised that the continent’s next developmental chapter cannot be written by isolated businesses.
“Africa cannot achieve its full economic potential with thousands of weak and fragmented businesses operating in silos. What the continent needs are strong institutions and large corporations that can survive beyond their founders, scale across borders, attract global capital, and compete with the best companies around the world,” Afolabi said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
While acknowledging that grassroots entrepreneurship has historically driven local economies, Afolabi noted that a structural evolution is long overdue.
He called on stakeholders to look beyond short-term gains and focus on building entities capable of moving the industrial needle.
“While entrepreneurship remains critical to Africa’s growth story, the continent must deliberately move beyond subsistence and lifestyle businesses towards building enduring enterprises with robust governance systems, innovation capacity, and continental reach,” he added.
However, the SIFAX Chairman pointed out that the private sector cannot achieve this scale in a vacuum, stressing that structural transformation requires an ecosystem where policy, finance, and infrastructure seamlessly align to support corporate expansion.
“African governments, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders must create enabling environments that support business scalability through improved infrastructure, access to finance, favourable regulations, and intra-African trade,” he said.
Pointing to existing frameworks designed to facilitate this transition, Afolabi highlighted the African Continental Free Trade Area as the single most critical vehicle for transforming how African companies operate.
“The conversations at the Africa CEO Forum clearly showed that Africa’s future lies in integration and scale. The AfCFTA presents a historic opportunity for businesses to expand beyond national borders and build truly pan-African enterprises,” the SIFAX chair said.
Reaffirming his own conglomerate’s commitment to this vision, Dr Afolabi concluded by revealing that SIFAX Group is actively aligning its operational footprint to bridge the logistical gaps that currently hinder intra-African commerce.
“SIFAX Group’s long-term vision is anchored on strengthening intra-African trade and supporting the successful implementation of the AfCFTA through investments in logistics, ports, transportation, and digital finance solutions across Africa,” he concluded.
