Africa's economic game changer

African leaders made history, recently when they launched a continental Free Trade Area (FTA) that will unite 1.3 billion people and create a Sh349 trillion economic bloc. Reflecting the optimism that African leaders need to share with their citizens, the International Monetary Fund described the FTA as a potential “economic game changer” that boosted growth in Europe and North America.”

There are significant challenges, however, that stand on the road to economic prosperity. They include poor road and rail networks, corrupt and self-serving bureaucracies that have perfected the art of stifling business growth with excessive regulations and political instability that lies just below the surface even in the most stable countries.