Intra-African trade records often underreport trade, partly because of a lack of adequate statistics and partly because of high levels of smuggling, which allow a significant amount of traditional cross-border trade to go unrecorded. In addition, intra-African trade has been hampered by the tendency for trade to remain concentrated in common currency and trade zones between African countries during the colonial era, often inadequate means of transportation and communication, lack of complementary agricultural or other products, and limited development of manufacturing industries.
Most intra-African trade consists of consumer items – food, beverages, tobacco, sugar, cattle, and meat. However, the growth of industrialization in some countries has been accompanied by an increase in trade in manufactured durable and short-term goods. There was also a large amount of re-export trade between coastal and inland states, especially in machinery, transport equipment, and spare parts.
The single currency and trade zones, which developed through the granting of preferences or the use of common currencies inherited from former colonial powers, include: The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), which includes Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo, is part of the larger CEEAC, which also includes Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sao Tome and Principe; The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ida; The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), consisting of Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe; East African Community, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi; The Southern African Development Community (SADC), composed of Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe; and the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), comprising Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.