African Continental Free Trade Area drives R2.6 billion in South Africa trade
Official data shows exports and imports under preferential terms surged between January 2024 and February 2026, spanning machinery, food items, and electrical equipment.
By Larry Claasen
SOUTH Africa has been quick to tap into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to bring together all 55 member states of the African Union (AU) into a common market
For South Africa, the AfCFTA presents opportunities to expand exports into new preferential markets in East, West, Central, and North Africa through frictionless trade.
The implementation of the AfCFTA is working to South Africa’s benefit. According to a Cabinet statement, total trade under AfCFTA preferential terms reached R2,6 billion between January 2024 and February 2026.
This figure encompasses both exports and imports across a diverse range of products, including mining equipment, appliances, food items, apparel, plastics, and electrical machinery.
The African Trade Report 2026, published by the African Export-Import Bank, also noted that South Africa was using the AfCFTA to deepen its relationships with the continent’s largest economies, such as Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Algeria, and Ethiopia. It said the country had strengthened its position as a leading participant in intra-African trade by scaling up its engagement under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, moving beyond initial pilot shipments into more regularised preferential trade.
The AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative is a pilot programme launched in October 2022 to kick-start commercially meaningful trade under the agreement. It is meant to test the operational, institutional, legal, and trade policy environment of the AfCFTA before its full rollout. Eight countries participated in the initial phase: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Tunisia.
South Africa has taken its participation in the pilot seriously, said the report. “It recorded continued progress during the year on outstanding AfCFTA technical negotiations, including advanced discussions on rules of origin for strategically important sectors such as automotive and clothing and textiles which are important to South Africa’s industrial base.”
The report said it also broadened exports beyond early pilot products into more value-added categories such as machinery, processed foods, and chemicals.
In implementing the AfCFTA, the AU hopes to get African countries to increase trade with each other. Historically, this has been relatively low, as Intra-African trade accounted for about 15% of total African trade. This is lower than intra-regional trade in Europe of over 60% or North America, at above 40%.
When it comes to intra-African trade, South Africa stands out as a major player, with deep and growing trade ties with the continent.
“South Africa’s exports continued to grow robustly, with data from the International Trade Centre showing that machinery, vehicles, electrical equipment, and processed materials are the main exports to the rest of the continent. Processed food products and chemicals are two important growth sectors for South African exports and reflect expanding regional consumer markets, particularly within the Southern African Development Community,” said the report.
It said the country’s diversified industrial base, relatively advanced infrastructure, and strong integration into regional value chains, particularly in automotive, agro-processing, and chemicals, have deepened its position as the regional trade hub.
It pointed out, however, that for the country to unlock further potential, it will depend on deeper cross-border investment, stronger industrial linkages, and improved market access for small and medium enterprises, especially in neighbouring economies such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, which serve as key suppliers of raw materials and intermediate goods.
