By Farouk Mark Mukiibi*
One of the most shocking realities is that Africa’s share of global trade is almost less than 3%.
Yet we are often quick to give textbook reasons;
Poor infrastructure, limited financing, weak policy to an issue that should start with Self awareness.
Because no transformation begins with blame.
It begins with looking in the mirror and asking: What version of value do we believe in?
What power do we possess in global trade?
Are we clowns in the game or Kings on the chess board.
Until we measure ourselves honestly, we’ll keep negotiating from positions we don’t understand.
Power in trade is not in the shipment, but in the setting of price, standard, and the story
Because, Africa is not missing from global trade.
We are right inside it but invisible in its rewards.
The real issue is a quiet architecture of structural subtraction.
A system designed to extract presence without power.
To harvest participation but deny proportionate profit to the blind.
The truth is you can be fully integrated and still be perpetually diminished.
That’s the paradox Africa lives inside; the more we trade, the less we seem to accumulate.
Africa isn’t benefiting much from global trade because it doesn’t export any meaning.
We participate, but we don’t preside.
We move goods, but not the goalposts.
We trade in a system that measures volume, not control, yet control is where the enrichment hides.
Power in trade is not in the shipment, but in the setting of price, standard, and the story.
We confuse endurance with evolution.
And in doing so, we mistake applause for advancement.
Africa trades things already defined by others,
then celebrates the invitation to participate.
The system is not broken, it works perfectly for those who understand it
The system is not broken, it works perfectly for those who understand it.
We confuse being invited to trade with being allowed to win.
We forget that to benefit is not to trade.
It is to retain, multiply, and define value on our own terms.
Our deepest deficit isn’t financial, it’s psychological.
Because even when Africa “exports more,” value leaks through invisible forces that drain the reward before it even reaches home.
Africa must move from exporting materials to exporting meaning or else it won’t evolve.
The true trade advantage lies not in what we make,but in what we mean.
Because every economy that commands respect
first mastered the art of defining its own story.
Trade follows narrative. Narrative follows identity.
And identity follows self-definition.
The rhythm of motion deceives us into believing we are advancing, yet the compass still points to dependency.
We must invest in the power to define, because whoever defines, decides.
The day Africa defines what the world must come to it for, trade will finally mean benefit
The day Africa defines what the world must come to it for, trade will finally mean benefit.
Until then, we will keep trading what we don’t control and celebrating access to systems that were never meant to reward us.
Because until we own the logic of exchange,
every boom will still end with a thank-you note.
To read more : https://lnkd.in/dqXQ4j9b
*Farouk Mark Mukiibi is a marketing consultant and brand strategist specializing in East African markets and supporting local startups.
