AfCFTA Pushes Interoperable Digital Systems for Trade

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat is advancing efforts to connect national digital systems across Africa as part of measures to make cross-border trade faster, cheaper and more accessible to businesses.

Gilberto Antonio, Chief Technical Adviser at the AfCFTA Secretariat, said the initiative is focused on improving interoperability between national systems, establishing common digital trade rules and strengthening the skills required for businesses to participate effectively in the continent’s emerging digital market.

The initiative is expected to particularly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often face higher transaction costs and greater barriers when conducting business across borders.

“Digital trade goes beyond e-commerce,” Antonio said in an AfCFTA podcast. He explained that digital trade encompasses commercially enabled activities such as digital payments, data flows and digital identity, with e-commerce representing only one component of the wider digital economy.

While several African countries have made considerable progress in domestic digital payments, particularly through mobile money services in markets such as Ghana and Kenya, Antonio said the same level of integration has not yet been achieved for cross-border transactions.

He identified payment fees and delays as significant obstacles to intra-African digital commerce. Traditional bank transfers can take more than one to three days to complete, while some transactions between African countries are routed through correspondent banks outside the continent before reaching their final destinations.

The AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol is expected to provide part of the regulatory foundation for addressing these challenges. The protocol establishes binding provisions covering interoperability and other areas relevant to digital commerce across member states.

According to Antonio, the Secretariat is pursuing two complementary tracks to advance implementation. The first is centred on putting the legally binding Digital Trade Protocol into effect, while the second involves working with partners on digital skills development and platforms capable of connecting national systems.

The push comes as businesses across Africa increasingly adopt digital tools, even as significant differences remain between national digital infrastructures and regulatory systems.

Antonio identified inadequate digital skills, limited internet connectivity, particularly in rural communities, and the lack of interoperability between national systems as some of the major constraints preventing digital trade from reaching its full potential.

He said the protocol has received political support from the presidents of Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, while businesses and SMEs have also expressed interest in its faster implementation.

For smaller businesses, the initiative is intended to widen participation in what the Secretariat describes as a single African digital market. Antonio stressed that the private sector must remain central to the process because businesses are ultimately responsible for conducting trade, while governments provide the regulatory framework and oversee implementation.

The Secretariat is also seeking to strengthen the pipeline of young African technology entrepreneurs through its AfCFTA Digital Innovators Challenge.

Antonio said the initiative is designed to help innovators move beyond developing ideas and platforms to building ventures that can be implemented, financed and scaled.

“If you keep it just in your rooms, you will not be able to succeed,” Antonio said, stressing the importance of institutional support and access to capital in helping innovators turn ideas into viable businesses. The Secretariat intends to organise the innovation challenge annually, with expectations that participation and institutional support will grow as subsequent editions are held.