Malawi is among 24 African countries that have aligned national trade frameworks with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), positioning local businesses to tap into expanding regional market opportunities.
The 2026 edition of African Trade Report produced by Egypt-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) indicates that Malawi is also among countries that have domesticated AfCFTA provisions while the Guided Trade Initiative has expanded to more than 39 countries, covering processed foods, tea, coffee and manufactured goods.
The report comes at a time African countries have continued with the mplementation of the trade pact despite rising global trade tensions and constraints within the multilateral trading system.
Reads the report in part: “As of July 2025, 49 out of 54 African Union member States had deposited their instruments of ratification.
AfCFTA trade deal. | Nation
“Trade under the initiative includes processed foods, tea, coffee and manufactured goods, providing early evidence of practical implementation and the strengthening of regional value chains.”
However, Afreximbank notes that incomplete tariff schedules, unresolved rules of origin negotiations and national capacity constraints continue to hinder full implementation of the continental trade pact.
The AfCFTA, a market of with gross domestic product valued at $3.4 trillion and 1.3 billion people, seeks to create the world’s largest free trade zone, opening opportunities for businesses, farmers and manufacturers to reach a wider African market.
For a landlocked country such as Malawi, which depends heavily on regional trade routes and neighbouring ports, the agreement could be a game-changer.
However, despite Malawi ratifying the AfCFTA in 2021 and positioning trade liberalisation as a key strategy for economic growth, most Malawians are not aware of the trade pact.
Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Daisy Kambalame said in an interview on Friday that while lack of information is slowing the uptake of AfCFTA pilot initiative, challenges facing the businesses sector could make Malawian goods and services uncompetitive.
“Businesses in Malawi are facing a number of challenges, including macroeconomic instability, an unfavourable tax regime, forex challenges and lack of affordable financing, making Malawian goods and services uncompetitive, which will likely affect our implementation of the AfCFTA agenda,” she said.
Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism spokesperson Patrick Botha, in an interview on Friday, said background work is taking place, including the issue of the Pan- African Payment and Settlement System, a digital platform for instant, cross-border payments in local African currencies, reducing foreign currency dependence.
Published Afrobarometer data show that only 12 percent of Malawians have heard of the AfCFTA agreement, a situation the survey results show is low for a policy framework designed to connect African economies, reduce trade barriers and expand market access across the continent.
The survey findings point to a disconnect between policy direction and public awareness with 60 percent of Malawians supporting easier international trade in principle while many still prefer trade to be limited to Africa at 26 percent or even just the Southern African region at 13 percent.
AfCFTA is a comprehensive trade agreement designed to integrated Africa’s economies by creating a single market that covers 44 of its 55 members States.
The AfCFTA was brokered by the African Union and signed in Kigali, Rwanda in March 2018.
The agreement officially came into force on May 30 2029 and trading started on January 1 2021.
