For many African trav-ellers, exploring the continent should be exciting, but the frustra-tion of currency exchange turns it into a costly and inconvenient experience.
Take 2AO, a Lagos-based tourist traveling to Nairobi. Before departure, they must convert Naira to U.S. dollars, then exchange those dollars for Kenyan Shillings upon arriv-al. The process repeats on the return journey, adding extra financial strain and unnecessary inconvenience.
Beyond the inconvenience, this challenge reinforces Africa’s reliance on foreign currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the Euro. Each conversion strength-ens external economies while weakening African currencies. The introduction of a single Af-rican currency would eliminate these obstacles, making travel within Africa seamless and encouraging African citizens to explore their continent without the burden of exchange complex-ities.
Africa’s fragmented currency system does not just affect trav-ellers—it significantly hampers trade. Nigerian traders export-ing goods across Africa struggle with multiple exchange rates, slow international transaction processes, and costly financial intermediaries, which compli-cate cross-border trade. Many transactions require foreign currency conversions facilitat-ed by European and American banks, further increasing costs and reducing Africa’s ability to conduct independent financial operations.
Small and medium enter-prises (SMEs), the backbone of African economies, suffer dispro-portionately from these hur-dles. A unified currency would empower businesses to conduct transactions directly without intermediary institutions, reducing costs and simplifying the trade process. Additionally, African economies suffer from exchange rate volatility, com-plicating trade agreements and deterring investors. A single currency would stabilize pricing and boost investor confidence, making Africa a stronger global economic player.
Nigeria’s Minister of Indus-try, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, alongside oth-er African Ministers of Trade, has been a steadfast advocate for Africa’s economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). She has worked tirelessly to elimi-nate trade barriers and ensure Nigeria plays a leading role in intra-African commerce.
Despite AfCFTA’s progress, the absence of a single African currency remains a major chal-lenge, complicating cross-border transactions and limiting trade fluidity. Businesses are forced to operate within fluctuating exchange rates, increasing transaction costs and making intra-African commerce unnec-essarily expensive. The reliance on external financial institu-tions for currency conversion undermines Africa’s economic sovereignty, keeping trade depen-dent on foreign intermediaries and reducing Africa’s ability to build a self-sustaining financial ecosystem.
Dr. Oduwole, along with other African trade ministers, has em-phasised the need for a unified currency, arguing that African businesses will continue to suf-fer financial delays, losses due to fluctuating exchange rates, and challenges in establishing pre-dictable pricing models without it. The Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS), de-signed to facilitate swift intra-Af-rican transactions, faces limita-tions without a single currency that allows businesses to trade directly without dependency on external financial systems.
While a unified African currency presents enormous ad-vantages, historical obstacles re-main. The West’s divide-and-con-quer approach, institutionalised during the Berlin Conference of 1884, continues to shape Africa’s economic fragmenta-tion. African leaders have often been pressured or incentivised to maintain separate financial structures, not because they benefit their nations, but because they serve the interests of West-ern economies.
The tactics of financial control remain evident. Leaders who uphold division receive financial and political rewards, while those who advocate unity and financial independence face opposition, sanctions, or destabi-lisation efforts. A single African currency challenges this control, making it harder for external financial institutions to dictate Africa’s economic trajectory. This opposition often emerges from within African govern-ments, as some leaders reluctant to lose foreign financial backing actively block unity-focused initiatives.
Recognizing the growing demand for financial sovereign-ty, the Africa Woke Citizens Platform (AWCP) has submitted this issue to the African Union Commission (AUC) as part of its Citizens’ Expectations Agenda, advocating for increased public discussion and transparency regarding Africa’s financial inde-pendence. Across the continent, the call for change is growing louder, and African citizens are demanding a future free from external financial control.
To withstand external pres-sures, Africa’s largest economies must take the lead in fostering unity, deepening cooperation, and championing financial sov-ereignty. Nations such as Nige-ria, South Africa, and Egypt bear the responsibility of spearhead-ing Africa’s financial transfor-mation. Their leadership must go beyond symbolic gestures and result in concrete policy actions aimed at strengthening Africa’s financial institutions, enhancing intra-African trade agreements, and facilitating cross-border investments.
Without decisive leadership, Africa risks remaining fragment-ed, unable to fully capitalise on its resources, industrial capacity, and entrepreneurial potential. Establishing a strong African financial framework would allow the continent to dictate its own economic policies, gain leverage in global negotiations, and re-move external financial control that has hindered Africa’s prog-ress for generations.
The establishment of a single African currency is both ambitious and necessary. It is an essential step toward removing financial barriers, empowering African businesses, and boost-ing tourism. As Dr. Oduwole and other advocates of African trade continue to push for policy reforms, Africa is inching closer to economic unity.
This movement is not simply about currency—it represents Africa’s rightful place in the global economy. African nations must no longer be forced into inefficient financial systems that serve foreign interests instead of their own. The era of reliance on Western financial institutions to dictate Africa’s economic trajec-tory must come to an end.
The single African curren-cy could be the turning point, eliminating trade restrictions, strengthening intra-African com-merce, and positioning Africa as a global economic powerhouse. The time for financial unity is now. God bless Africa!
*Engr. Osibanjo (2AO) writes via adeo-[email protected]