El-Alamein: 85% of African private sector transactions are with companies outside the continent

One figure dominated the discussions at the Alamein Africa forum, which opened for three days starting Saturday, October 3, 2026, in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein, Egypt: approximately 85% of African private sector transactions are concluded with companies located outside the continent. This data was presented by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi before more than twenty heads of state and government representatives, according to Africanews.

The paradox is stark. The African private sector generates more than 70% of the continent's gross domestic product, yet it primarily trades with the outside world. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, summarized the general sentiment by stating that "Africa can do much better."

$220 billion, and a glass ceiling

The figures cited at the forum place intra-African trade at $220 billion in 2024, representing 14.4% of the continent's total trade. The momentum exists: after a 5.9% contraction in 2023, trade between African countries rebounded by 12.4% in 2024. However, this share remains far from the levels observed in Europe or Asia, where regional trade constitutes the bulk of flows.

This structure is not an accident. It is the legacy of economies built to export raw materials to former colonial powers rather than to sell to one another: road and rail corridors oriented toward ports, customs tariffs that remain high between neighbors, payment systems that transit through foreign currencies and banks, and trade financing that African SMEs pay more for than their competitors.

Mobilizing the continent's savings

The watchword repeated in El-Alamein was to "liberate" African capital, meaning to direct more of the continent's savings, pension funds, and banks toward African infrastructure and businesses, rather than waiting for external capital. The forum, organized under the mandate of the African Union for its first edition and designed to return every two years, included infrastructure, trade, agriculture, health, mining, technology, and renewable energy on its agenda.

Egypt positioned itself as an example, highlighting some $14 billion in Egyptian investments in Africa, including the Julius Nyerere hydroelectric project in Tanzania, valued at $3 billion.

The test of reality

These observations are not new: the African Continental Free Trade Area was specifically designed to break down these barriers. The challenge for the coming months is therefore less about declarations and more about practice: removing customs obstacles, financing missing transport and payment links, and ensuring that African companies can find one another. The next El-Alamein meeting, in two years, will allow us to measure whether the 14.4% needle has moved.