- Colonial borders still undermine Africa’s economic integration
- AfCFTA offers a historic opportunity but lacks strong enforcement
- Current dispute systems cannot guarantee uniform application of trade rules
More than a century ago, in the grand chambers of Berlin, seven European powers—Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Italy—gathered to partition Africa with little more than rulers and ink. Between 1884 and 1914, borders were imposed that split ethnic groups, dismantled integrated economies, and disrupted trade networks that had thrived for centuries. Only Liberia and Ethiopia escaped this colonial cartography.
Nigerian scholar Olayemi Akinwumi captures the gravity of this moment succinctly: “The partition of Africa was done without any consideration for the history of the society… It inflicted irreparable damage on Africa, damage that many countries still suffer today.” Lines drawn in distant European capitals became the invisible prison bars of modern African states—and remain central to Africa’s enduring development crisis.
When the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, African leaders opted for pragmatism, choosing to preserve colonial borders “for now” in the interest of peace. Yet, more than six decades later, these same borders are guarded with fierce determination, even as they continue to undermine Africa’s potential for economic consolidation and integration.
Today, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents a historic opportunity to reverse this fragmentation. By membership, it is the world’s largest free trade area, encompassing 1.5 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion—projected to double by 2035. It is Africa’s boldest post-independence attempt to convert division into collective strength. But without a supranational judicial authority to enforce its rules, AfCFTA risks remaining an ambitious idea rather than a lived reality.
At present, enforcement relies heavily on diplomacy and peer pressure. There are no automatic sanctions to deter violations. The dispute settlement system must also navigate overlapping jurisdictions with ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, and other regional bodies, creating uncertainty and enforcement gaps. Designed for isolated trade disputes, this framework is ill-equipped to support deep market integration across 54 legal systems. It cannot resolve daily border frictions faced by SMEs, nor ensure uniform application of AfCFTA rules. What Africa needs is a permanent supranational court whose authority supersedes conflicting national laws.
The Missing Judicial Pillar
The limitations of AfCFTA’s enforcement mechanisms become clear when contrasted with the European Union’s Court of Justice (CJEU). Through the doctrines of primacy and direct effect, EU law overrides conflicting national laws—even constitutional provisions.
Two landmark rulings illustrate this principle. In Costa v ENEL (1964), the CJEU established that European law takes precedence over national law, forming the legal backbone of Europe’s single market. In Factortame (1990), the Court ruled that UK courts must set aside domestic legislation that conflicted with EU law, even if enacted by Parliament. Without such decisions, Europe’s “four freedoms”—the movement of goods, services, people, and capital—would have remained rhetorical ambitions rather than enforceable rights.
Lessons from the United States
The United States offers a similar lesson. Its single market was forged not merely through political consensus but through decisive federal court rulings affirming national supremacy over state laws. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that states could not obstruct federal institutions. In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), it affirmed federal authority over interstate commerce. Later, in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964), the Court used federal commerce powers to enforce civil rights, demonstrating how market integration can drive broader social transformation.
These rulings helped transform 13 divided colonies into today’s $27 trillion economy. The lesson is unmistakable: a single market requires enforceable legal supremacy.
The Cost of Weak Enforcement
If Africa possessed such a court today—one with the power to disapply conflicting national laws—key continental initiatives would be fully operational. Free movement protocols would be enforceable. Traders would no longer face harassment across borders. The Single African Air Transport Market would end restrictive bilateral agreements that inflate travel costs. Visa-free travel would become a lived reality. Digital trade would accelerate, ensuring mandatory—not optional—implementation of systems like the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS).
PAPSS and Mobile Money: A Quiet Revolution
PAPSS, combined with continent-wide mobile money interoperability, holds the potential to achieve what regional blocs have struggled to deliver: functional monetary convergence without a single currency. With fully interoperable digital payment systems, Africans could transact across borders instantly—without correspondent banks, forex bottlenecks, or dollar dependency.
A future where a Ghanaian entrepreneur pays in cedis for goods sold by a Kenyan trader who receives shillings instantly is not utopian—it is technologically feasible today. In 2024, the Africa Prosperity Network advanced this agenda, gaining unanimous endorsement from the African Union and regional blocs at the 6th Midyear Coordination Meeting in Accra. Yet without enforcement, such commitments remain optional.
This is Africa’s integration paradox: bold treaties abroad, selective execution at home. Only a supranational court can break this cycle.
The 2030 Imperative
By 2030, AfCFTA must be anchored by a fully operational African Commercial Court of Justice with the authority to resolve trade and competition disputes, override conflicting national laws, issue binding interpretations, grant access to businesses and individuals, and enforce compliance through sanctions and remedies.
Such a court would give AfCFTA credibility, protect investors, harmonise rules, and prevent protectionist backsliding.
Making the Market Real
AfCFTA will succeed only when Africans experience it as real. When farmers trade freely across borders, startups scale seamlessly across regions, and digital entrepreneurs sell continent-wide without friction, the single market becomes tangible.
As Accra prepares to host the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2026 under the theme “Empowering SMEs, Women, and Youth: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade,” the message is clear: empowerment requires enforceable rights. Continental law is not a luxury—it is the foundation of trust, mobility, and growth.
A Call for Courage
Africa’s borders were drawn in Europe. It is time to redraw them—not on maps, but in law. Ceding limited sovereignty to a continental court is not surrender; it is an investment in dignity, prosperity, and collective strength.
Europe and the United States prove that markets do not unify through goodwill alone. They unify through enforceable law. Africa must choose what works—boldly, decisively, and without delay.
By 2030, the African Commercial Court of Justice must exist. The world will not wait. Neither can Africa.
