Understanding the Digital Trade on the African Continent via AfCFTA
Digital trade on the African continent is being significantly advanced through the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a flagship initiative of the African Union aimed at creating the world’s largest free trade area by bringing together all 55 African Union member states and eight Regional Economic Communities. Its main goals are to accelerate intra-African trade, boost Africa’s position in the global market, increase socioeconomic development, reduce poverty, and enhance competitiveness across the continent.
The Core features of AfCFTA include:
- Establishing a single continental market for goods and services to enable free movement across Africa.
- Eliminating trade barriers to increase trade in value-added products and services.
- Promoting industrialization, job creation, investment, and regional value chains.
- Covering critical economic sectors including digital trade and investment protection.
The agreement was adopted in March 2018, entered into force in May 2019 after ratification by at least 24 countries, and trading under AfCFTA officially began on the 1st of January, 2021. AfCFTA is is one of the roadmaps of Africans significantly transforming their trading and integrational landscape by fostering trade flows among themselves. Severing the nausea of trade laxities metered on their trade in recent past.
Digital Trade on the African Continent
Digital trade on the African continent is being significantly advanced through the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol, which establishes a unified legal and regulatory framework to facilitate digital trade among African Union member states. The protocol aims to eliminate barriers, harmonize rules, and create a secure and inclusive digital trading environment across Africa. The protocol also sets rules of origin for digital products to ensure preferential treatment applies to African-owned firms and platforms, reinforcing Africa’s digital market development.
For chambers of commerce and stakeholders, the protocol represents a transformative opportunity to support digital transformation, advocate for enabling policies, enhance internet accessibility, and ensure fair tax and customs practices that foster digitally-driven industrialization and intra-African trade growth.
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Open in new tab This document provides the full legal text, including definitions, objectives, scope, and detailed articles covering all aspects of digital trade under AfCFTA.
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