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Africa’s most significant economic integration gains in the coming decade will come not from expanding trade links alone, but from building regional production hubs and making markets work seamlessly across borders, according to a new World Bank report released in Addis Ababa on Thursday. 

The report, Integrating Africa: From Threads to Hubs, argues that the continent’s integration agenda must shift toward connecting production systems, reducing regulatory and logistical frictions, and delivering the infrastructure and services needed to support competitive regional value chains.

Launched at an event co-hosted by the African Union Commission, UNECA and the World Bank Group, the report outlines a practical roadmap for translating continental commitments – such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – into functioning markets. It calls for interoperable customs, standards, payment systems, transport networks, energy markets and digital platforms so firms can source, produce and sell across borders under predictable rules.

The World Bank estimates that deeper liberalisation of transport, telecommunications, financial and professional services could increase intra-Africa trade in services by 60–64% by 2035. Stronger regional trade would also help diversify Africa’s export base, which remains heavily commodity dependent, and expand manufacturing-intensive value chains. Today, intra-regional trade accounts for only about one-fifth of Sub-Saharan Africa’s exports.

The report stresses that many of the biggest barriers to integration are domestic. Around 60% of trade costs stem from unilateral, behind-the-border constraints such as customs delays, inefficient logistics, fragmented standards, restrictive services regulations and weak infrastructure. Governments can therefore unlock substantial gains through national reforms – such as electronic single windows, risk-based inspections, simpler rules of origin, more competitive freight markets and more open services sectors – without waiting for new regional negotiations.

To deliver tangible results, the report organises its recommendations around four priorities: building regional value chains; reducing trade and regulatory frictions; strengthening implementation of regional agreements; and investing in regional public goods, including transport corridors, power pools, digital networks and payment systems.

“Africa has a continental free trade agreement. The focus is now implementation,” said Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa. He noted that connecting 54 economies into an integrated market of 1.5 billion people requires coordinated reforms and investments that enable firms to operate across borders at scale.

African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi said no single institution can deliver the integration agenda alone. She called for joint action by governments, regional bodies, development partners and the private sector to turn continental frameworks into practical reforms that benefit businesses and citizens.

The report emphasises that progress should be measured through real-world outcomes: shorter border crossing times, lower logistics costs, more reliable regional infrastructure, more recognised standards and qualifications, greater private investment and more firms participating in regional value chains.