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Public Sector Sub-Saharan Africa Ghana Sustainable Development Services Barriers

Ghana AfCFTA Services Negotiations Update

Updated June 2025

This report is part of an ongoing series on developments related to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).  To see all of Commercial Service Ghana’s reporting on the AfCFTA, please see https://www.trade.gov/african-continental-free-trade-area-afcfta-resources. 

Services sectors form 55% of Africa’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). They are expected to reach 58% of Africa’s overall GDP by 2043.  Although African exports of services have been growing, they still comprise a relative low share of overall African exports - only 17% in 2019.  

The negotiations on services as a part of the African Continental Free Trade area are expected to accelerate intra-African investment and trade in services.  Initially, these negotiations have been focused on five priority sub-sectors:  business services (including areas such as accounting, legal, and ICT-related services, among others), financial services, communication, transportation, and tourism.  Services sectors such as construction, distribution, education, energy, environmental services, and health and social services are not covered by negotiations at present, but they could be taken up in the future. 

As of February 2025, 24 AfCFTA State Parties have agreed on specific levels of market access and liberalization for the five priority service sectors. The State Parties with verified and adopted services schedules include members of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti); members of the East African Community (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda); as well as Botswana, Comoros, Egypt, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Generally, the openings on market access guarantee a minimum level of access for other AfCFTA State Parties, unless explicitly restricted.  

AfCFTA State Parties are also negotiating Regulatory Frameworks that will underpin the market access and national treatment conditions provided for in the Schedules of Specific Commitments for services.

Commercial Opportunities 

  • U.S. operators in these sectors benefit from the from the general provisions on transparency, including the requirement to make publicly available all relevant regulations, laws, and international commitments related to services trade.
  • Horizontal commitments to define AfCFTA State Parties’ policy positions and overall regulatory framework for foreign operators could bring more stability and clarity to U.S. services companies operating in the region.
  • Coordinated negotiating positions among Regional Economic Communities could result in more harmonized regulatory regimes and less fractionalized services markets in various regions across Africa.
  • Transport services: According to a new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, a surge in new transport services alone could account for 25 percent of intra-African trade gains in services as a result of the AfCFTA.
  • The demand for maritime services, for example, is estimated to grow by 62 percent, requiring more than 100 new shipping vessels to transport increased intra-African trade in goods.

For a more detailed discussion on the outcomes of the AfCFTA services negotiations, please see this UNDP publication: Forging an African Services Market.