South Africa and Kenya push to turn African integration into industrial growth

While presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and William Ruto spoke of industrialisation, investment and African integration, business leaders at the South Africa-Kenya Business Forum repeatedly returned to a simpler complaint: Africa’s trade agreements are moving faster on paper than they are at border posts, customs offices and regulatory agencies. Held at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand as part of Ruto’s state visit to South Africa, the forum brought together government officials, financiers, industrialists and business organisations from both countries. What emerged was an unusually candid discussion about the obstacles that continue to hold back trade and investment between two of Africa’s most important economies. For all the enthusiasm surrounding the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), speakers argued that the next phase of African integration will depend less on new agreements and more on removing practical barriers that continue to frustrate businesses operating across borders. The message came through repeatedly from executives, investors and business organisations representing both countries. Kenya and South Africa occupy pivotal positions in their respective regions. Kenya is widely regarded as the gateway to East and Central Africa, while South Africa remains the continent’s most industrialised economy and largest financial centre. Yet trade between the two countries remains modest relative to their economic weight. In 2025, bilateral trade reached about $680 million. Kenya remains one of South Africa’s largest trading partners outside the Southern African Development Community, while more than 60 South African companies operate in Kenya across banking, insurance, telecommunications, manufacturing and retail, among other sectors. Ramaphosa says South African companies have undertaken 96 investment projects in Kenya worth more than $2 billion. Kenyan companies have invested in 11 projects in South Africa valued at about $283 million. The figures formed the backdrop to a forum that focused less on trade statistics than on what comes next. Standard Bank Group chief executive Sim Tshabalala argued that Africa’s integration challenge remains significant despite the establishment of the AfCFTA. Describing Kenya and South Africa as the “two bookends of Africa’s most important north-south economic spine”, Tshabalala said the East African Community and Southern Africa had the potential to form a powerful economic corridor stretching from Mombasa to Cape Town. Yet Africa continues to trade far less with itself than other regions of the world. Africa’s intra-regional trade accounted for roughly 17% of exports, compared with 59% in Asia and 69% in Europe, he noted. Tshabalala proposed two practical measures that could accelerate integration: a continent-wide customs processing system and visa-free travel for African business leaders. His remarks were echoed by Kenyan industrialist Raghbir Singh Chatthe, the managing director of Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries, whose group has invested about R3.5bn in South Africa. Chatthe’s investments include agricultural operations in Mpumalanga and sugar-sector assets in KwaZulu-Natal. He said the investments supported hundreds of South African jobs and had demonstrated the benefits of African capital being invested on the continent. “African capital invested in Africa does more than generate returns,” he said. “It creates jobs, develops skills, strengthens communities and keeps value on our continent where it belongs.” Chatthe argued that African countries needed to facilitate the movement of skills and expertise more effectively and move beyond exporting raw commodities towards local processing and manufacturing. The focus on industrialisation was reinforced by Business Unity South Africa chair Dr Stavros Nicolau. “Our industrial ambitions on the continent need to be matched with regulatory speed,” Nicolau said. He pointed to fragmented regulations, customs bottlenecks and inconsistent standards as barriers preventing businesses from fully exploiting opportunities created by the AfCFTA and other regional trade agreements. Nicolau also highlighted the uneven nature of trade between the two countries. South Africa exported substantially more to Kenya than it imports, reflecting both the size of South Africa’s industrial base and the limited diversification of trade flows in Africa. He argued that the solution lay not in restricting trade but in growing it through investment, manufacturing and stronger regional value chains. The strongest call for urgency came from Jas Bedi, the chairperson of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance. Bedi proposed technical working groups, faster customs recognition procedures and accelerated negotiations on rules of origin. He called for governments to focus on implementation rather than additional commitments. “AfCFTA is now law but la