Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has lamented the low level of intra-African trade despite the continent's abundance of natural resources and promising future.

He emphasized that African investors need to take the risk and invest within the continent to drive its growth.

Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, Dangote highlighted that the development of Africa depends on its own people, not foreigners.

He pointed out that African economies would experience significant growth with the free movement of goods and services, citing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key initiative.

Aliko Dangote said, "Our focus is to make the regional markets all work; once they work, then we can now go to AfCFTA, but for AfCFTA also, we need to make sure that it works. We cannot have a very promising continent and our intra-trade is less than 16%."

"We, Africans, have to do it. If we are waiting for foreigners to come and develop Africa, it is not going to happen. So it can only happen by us Africans. We must risk our resources and make sure that we lead, then we have people who actually trust and believe in Africa to come and help us push to the next level," he added.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063, is an ambitious trade agreement with a comprehensive scope that includes critical sectors of Africa's economy such as digital trade and investment protection.

The free trade pact aims to significantly boost intra-African trade by eliminating barriers, particularly enhancing trade in value-added production across all sectors.

Effective from January 2021, AfCFTA is the world's largest free trade area, encompassing 55 African countries with a combined population of 1.3 billion and a GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion.

The agreement also aims to help African economies build robust and resilient structures to better withstand internal and external shocks.