Will Free Trade Unleash Africa’s Full Potential?

For decades, Africa has exported critical raw materials to the rest of the world. But the African Continental Free Trade Agreement promises to help the continent capture more value from its natural resources. The AfCFTA will create a single market where goods and services flow freely between commodity-rich African nations and more industrialized ones. At the same time, Africa is poised to finally achieve universal access to reliable power. BCG’s Tolu Oyekan looks at what these developments mean for Africa—and for the rest of the world. 

Learn More: 

Tolu Oyekan: https://on.bcg.com/3KLu56U 

Africa Unleashed: Powering Prosperity Through Energy Access: https://on.bcg.com/4pjj0ZK 

Africa Unleashed: Bridging Africa’s Infrastructure Execution Gap: https://on.bcg.com/4rKhQbe 

Chapters 

00:00-02:10 The scenario: The value of Pan-African trade has exploded 

02:11-03:01 Where does intra-African trade stand today? 

03:02-03:50 How will Africa plug into future global supply chains? 

03:51-05:10 What is the current impact of AfCFTA? 

05:11-05:42 How to address skepticism  

05:43-07:40 What could an African renaissance look like? 

07:41-10:21 How will AI’s power be harnessed across Africa? 

10:22-11:03 Bill and GENE Teaser 

11:04-14:20 The future of Africa’s energy infrastructure 

14:21-15:40 Where will investments come from? 

15:41-17:11 Will red tape hold back advancing electricity in Africa? 

17:12-19:20 What role will sustainable energy play? 

19:21-20:34 How to innovate around existing infrastructure challenges? 

20:35-22:07 Curveball: What could prevent this future? 

22:08-23:19 What is one no-regret move CEOs can make now? 

23:20-27:29 Bill and GENE: Creating a Pan-African battery company. 

27:30-28:14 Outro

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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