Enhancing Cross-Border Trade Administration in Africa: Analyzing intention to engage from Business Executives’ viewpoint

Abstract

Our study evaluated the factors affecting business executives' intention to use cross-border payment options in Africa. Through analysis of 145 business executives from Nigeria who are engaged in cross-border trade, we examined existing regional payment systems infrastructure and explored the main factors affecting adoption. The findings hold that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived compatibility influence executives' personal views towards these payments’ solutions, whereas relative advantage had no significant effect. The fragmented nature of the African payments system hinders efforts for African trade integration despite regional successes. Our study found that most previous efforts for cross-border payment innovations did not consider business executives' perspectives; a lens which provides useful insight for those providing or regulating cross-border payments, or policymakers, financial institutions, and organisations that want to enhance the administration of intra-African trade.

Keywords

• Cross-border trade
• Payment administration
• African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
• Business executives
• trade facilitation
• Intra-African trade

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