Gulf-Africa trade corridor has real promise

The African Continental Free Trade Area is Africa’s most ambitious project for continental integration — a blueprint to liberalize trade, stimulate industrialization and accelerate shared growth. The free trade bloc carries the promise of transforming Africa into the world’s largest single market, connecting 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined economic output of $3.4 trillion.
Beyond Africa’s borders, the bloc also opens a new frontier for interregional cooperation, particularly between the Gulf Cooperation Council and North African economies such as Egypt and Morocco. Given the recent strengthening of ties between the Gulf and North African economies, it could become the missing link to drive vertical integration, merging Gulf capital, North African industrial expertise and African resources into a powerful economic alliance.
The African Continental Free Trade Area was conceived in response to the continent’s historical fragmentation. Despite early efforts by the Organization of African Unity and, later, the African Union, attempts to establish a continent-wide free trade area repeatedly failed. Multiple overlapping regional trade blocs were fragmented and ineffective. But throughout the 2010s, the “Africa Rising” narrative blossomed, the African Union’s leadership prioritized economic integration and the pan-African vision began to gain real traction.
In 2018, 44 African countries signed the historic Kigali Declaration during the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Rwanda and, in May 2019, the trade bloc officially entered into force. Its goal was clear: to dismantle tariffs, facilitate intra-African trade and position the continent as a unified economic area capable of negotiating on an equal footing with global partners.
This vision is now increasingly resonating beyond Africa’s shores, particularly in the Gulf. Originally established in 1981 to promote political and economic unity among regional states, the GCC’s economic geography has evolved from intra-Gulf integration to a broader strategic reach across emerging markets. As the global energy transition accelerates and oil dependency becomes an existential risk, Gulf economies are urgently pivoting toward diversification.
With dynamic demographics, abundant resources and the African Continental Free Trade Area’s promise of continental market access, Africa has emerged as a natural partner in this transformation. Egypt and Morocco are uniquely positioned as bridging economies, linking the Arab Gulf to sub-Saharan Africa through their strategic geography and deep commercial ties with both regions. 

Egypt and Morocco are uniquely positioned as bridging economies, linking the Arab Gulf to sub-Saharan Africa.

Zaid M. Belbagi

Egypt, a founding member of the bloc and home to the Suez Canal Economic Zone, is already a key hub for Gulf investment. Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has committed more than $4 billion to develop a green hydrogen project in the Suez zone, targeting 600,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually. This initiative reflects a new phase of energy integration, combining Gulf financing with African resources and Egyptian industrial capacity.
Morocco has established itself as one of Africa’s most globally connected economies, with deep expertise in renewable energy, automotive manufacturing and fertilizer production through the OCP Group. Its long-standing partnerships with African markets, particularly in West Africa, position it as a strategic intermediary for Gulf investors seeking to navigate the African Continental Free Trade Area landscape.
The real promise of this emerging alignment lies in vertical integration — the structuring of regional value chains that connect Gulf financing, North African industrial expertise and sub-Saharan resources under the trade bloc’s umbrella. Taking fertilizers as an example, OCP could partner with Gulf petrochemical giants to establish ammonia production in Egypt, creating a closed loop from Gulf gas to African farmland, where fertilizer imports remain prohibitively expensive.
The infrastructure is already materializing. DP World manages ports from Dakar to Maputo. Abu Dhabi’s ADQ has committed billions to Egyptian logistics. An economic corridor is clearly emerging.
However, obstacles remain. The free trade area’s implementation has been uneven, with many member states yet to ratify critical protocols on customs procedures or investment protection. Without these fundamentals, the promise of a unified market remains aspirational. Equally challenging is that the Gulf’s historic engagement with Africa has too often been extractive, characterized by commodity deals with minimal technology or knowledge transfer.
The African Continental Free Trade Area and the Gulf’s diversification drive create a rare window for a different kind of partnership. If African nations can uniformly implement the bloc and Gulf states move toward long-term industrial investment and partnership, Egypt and Morocco can be pivotal in stitching together a genuine Afro-Gulf value chain. Done well, this corridor could become one of the most important growth axes of the global economy.

• Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
X: @Moulay_Zaid