Measures required for African integration

A trans-continental electronic payment platform supporting trade and cash management needs to be adopted by African economies accelerate movement towards African integration.

As it was noted by Offong Ambah, chief executive officer, Ecobank Nigeria the development of shared infrastructure platforms across Africa improved access to credit by small and medium enterprises. He also pointed out that the lowering of immigration barriers as well as the adoption of a single currency is desirable to grow trade among Africans

Today there is a number of informal trade channels prevalent in Africa that should be turned into to formal channels in order to facilitate enterprise development and harness them towards financial integration and Ambah says that the players in the financial system need to invest in this migration.

"Local entrepreneurs and the informal sector have access to vast networks and would require the financial systems’ support to instill management and financial discipline and also provide needed support that will properly organise and grow trading activities," he added.