By Archford Mabuka (Opinion)
THE AFRICAN Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is opening new opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to reach customers across Africa, supply regional value chains and compete for business currently going to suppliers outside the continent.
For local enterprises, the opportunity is significant.
According to ITC Trade Map, Africa imported goods worth approximately US$506 billion in 2025, but only about US$65 billion of those imports came from within the continent.
This means intra-African imports accounted for about 12.8 percent of Africa’s total imports, while approximately US$441 billion, or 87.2 percent, was sourced from outside the continent.
China alone supplied goods worth approximately US$99 billion to African markets during the year, accounting for close to one-fifth of the continent’s imports.
The figures point to a sizeable market that African businesses, including Zimbabwean MSMEs, can increasingly target as the AfCFTA improves conditions for trade between participating countries.
Not every product currently imported from outside Africa can be produced competitively on the continent in the short term.
However, replacing even a small share of those imports with African products could result in billions of dollars in additional intra-African trade and create opportunities for manufacturers, farmers, processors and service providers.
Changing global trade conditions are also strengthening the case for developing regional suppliers.
Disruptions to international supply chains, geopolitical tensions and rising transport costs have increased the importance of securing products closer to markets.
For local businesses, this presents an opportunity to identify products that African countries are importing in large quantities from overseas and assess whether they can compete in those markets.
There are already indications of growing trade among African countries.
Uganda’s imports from African markets increased from approximately US$5 billion in 2024 to US$8,6 billion in 2025, while Zimbabwe’s imports from African countries rose from about US$3,4 billion in 2018 to US$5,2 billion in 2025.
The challenge now is for local businesses to position themselves as buyers of products from the continent, and also increasingly as suppliers.
Import substitution presents opportunities
One of the immediate opportunities for MSMEs under the AfCFTA lies in supplying products that African countries continue to source from outside the continent.
Sectors identified during the AfCFTA SME Booster Programme include pharmaceuticals, textiles, edible oils, plywood and veneer, meat products, footwear and tiles.
For Zimbabwean businesses, opportunities also exist in processed foods and beverages, horticulture, pharmaceuticals, clothing and textiles, leather and footwear, fertilisers and agricultural inputs.
Other areas include construction materials, iron and steel products, packaging, mineral-based products, furniture and selected engineering products.
MSMEs do not necessarily have to compete across all these sectors.
The starting point should be identifying products where a business already has production capability, understanding where demand exists and establishing whether it can meet the price, quality, volume and regulatory requirements of the targeted market.
Regional value chains offer another route
The AfCFTA opportunity is not limited to selling finished products directly to consumers.
For many MSMEs, participation in regional value chains may provide a more practical route into continental trade.
A small business can supply raw materials, ingredients, packaging, components, semi-processed products or services to another company elsewhere in Africa without having to manufacture the final product.
A Zimbabwean packaging company, for example, could supply a food processor in Zambia, while a local agro-processing business could supply ingredients to a manufacturer in Kenya.
Engineering businesses could also supply components to larger industrial companies operating elsewhere on the continent.
This allows smaller firms to enter regional markets progressively, increase production and develop commercial relationships without immediately carrying the cost of establishing full distribution networks in foreign markets.
Participation in these value chains can also help MSMEs improve standards and consistency as they respond to the requirements of larger regional buyers.
Aggregation can address the problem of scale
One of the main barriers facing smaller businesses seeking to export is the ability to supply the volumes required by larger buyers.
A single MSME may have a competitive product but fail to secure an order because its production volumes are too small.
Aggregation provides one possible solution.
Through organised producer groups, trading companies or other structured arrangements, smaller businesses can combine their products to meet larger orders while maintaining agreed specifications and quality standards.
The AfCFTA SME Booster Programme highlighted trading-company models being used in countries such as Ghana, Egypt, Rwanda and Kenya.
Such models can assist smaller businesses through product aggregation, buyer-seller matchmaking, distribution, market-entry support and trade facilitation.
This approach could be particularly relevant to Zimbabwean producers in horticulture, processed foods, clothing, leather products, handicrafts and agricultural commodities.
Several smaller producers supplying collectively may be better placed to meet the volumes required by a regional buyer than they would be individually.
AfCFTA preferences are becoming practical
The AfCFTA is also moving progressively from policy commitments towards implementation.
During the AfCFTA SME Booster Programme attended by ZimTrade in Gaborone, Botswana, information presented by the AfCFTA Secretariat indicated that more than 12 126 AfCFTA Certificates of Origin had been issued.
Under the tariff liberalisation framework, approximately 90 percent of tariff lines fall under non-sensitive products, while about seven percent are treated as sensitive products and around three percent are excluded.
This creates scope for qualifying African goods to enter participating markets at reduced or eliminated customs duties as tariff commitments are implemented.
However, the preferential treatment is not automatic.
Exporters must comply with the applicable Rules of Origin, which determine whether a product qualifies as originating within the AfCFTA area.
They must also have the correct documentation, including Certificates of Origin, and comply with the requirements of the destination market.
For MSMEs, understanding these requirements is critical.
Businesses need to know the Harmonised System classification of their products, the applicable Rules of Origin, documentation requirements and the standards or regulations applying in the market they want to enter.
Where a Zimbabwean product satisfies the relevant Rules of Origin and the importing country has implemented the applicable tariff concession, it may enter that market at a reduced or zero tariff.
That can improve its competitiveness against similar products imported from outside Africa.
Businesses still need to be export-ready
While the AfCFTA creates a larger market and improves trading conditions, it does not remove the fundamentals required to succeed in export markets.
MSMEs still need adequate production capacity, dependable supply chains, consistent quality and the ability to meet agreed delivery schedules.
They also require appropriate certification, sound financial management, suitable packaging and a clear understanding of buyer and market requirements.
This is where business development support remains important.
Under the guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, ZimTrade has developed programmes aimed at preparing small businesses for export markets.
These programmes focus on strengthening production, improving quality and standards, developing packaging and branding, providing market information and connecting businesses with potential buyers.
