A new joint venture to build an African-owned digital trade infrastructure under the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade
ACCRA, 21 July 2026 — The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and ADI Foundation signed, on 18 July 2026 in New York, a Strategic Partnership Agreement providing for the creation of a joint venture to mobilise capital and build a digital trade infrastructure to boost intra-Africa trade. Fragmented systems are estimated to cost Africa’s economy as much as US$100 billion each year, due to the lack of the interoperable digital trade systems required to enable more efficient cross-border trade. The partnership is designed to bridge that gap, with the ambition of removing most of that cost within five years, while at the same time facilitating more inclusive, trusted and affordable trade at continental scale.
The joint venture will mobilise capital to deliver infrastructure designed to reduce the cost of cross-border settlement of payments by up to 90 per cent, with the priority of significantly reducing the cost of intra-Africa trade. Gradually, this digital infrastructure will enable African businesses to leverage assets that they already own — stock, invoices and other certified holdings — which has so far been possible only to a very limited extent across Africa, largely due to constraints in the requisite infrastructure.
The proposed infrastructure and governance arrangements will be developed in accordance with the AfCFTA legal framework — in particular the Protocol on Digital Trade — and applicable national laws. The infrastructure will be built on open, internationally recognised standards, and deployment will begin with identified corridor pilots under the AfCFTA from late 2026, scaling towards full continental coverage by 2030.
The partnership will focus on three persistent constraints affecting intra-Africa trade. First, it will explore mechanisms through which enterprises can establish verifiable digital commercial credentials, helping financial institutions and trading partners assess their transaction history across borders. Second, it will support the digitisation, digitalisation and verification of trade documentation, with the objective of reducing administrative costs and border transit delays. Third, it will facilitate interoperability with existing African digital platforms and infrastructure to support transactions and settlement of payments in intra-Africa trade.
“Too many African businesses, particularly MSMEs and women- and youth-led businesses, remain excluded from cross-border trade not because they lack competitive products, but because they lack verifiable digital identities, affordable access to finance, interoperable payment systems and trusted digital trade networks. This partnership presents an opportunity to change that trajectory by building the foundations of an integrated African digital market that is secure, inclusive and owned by Africa,” said H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
“Africa has never lacked enterprise. It has lacked infrastructure equal to its ambition. This venture removes the cost of distance from intra-Africa trade — on open standards, under African governance — and we will measure our publicly stated ambition against the targets we have set together,” said Ajay Bhatia, Principal Council Member, ADI Foundation.
By 2030, the partnership’s joint assessment indicates that intra-Africa trade has the potential to exceed the continent’s current trajectory by around two-thirds, the trade finance gap to be more than halved, and eight times as many small enterprises to be brought into the formal economy — an aggregate of up to US$900 billion added to Africa’s output, approximately a fifth above the present path.
This partnership between the ADI Foundation and the AfCFTA Secretariat will not require budgetary commitments by African governments. Instead, the parties will jointly mobilise over US$1 billion from institutional, development-finance and private sources, prioritising participation by African investors.
Notes to Editors
About the AfCFTA
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the African Union’s long-term development strategy. The Agreement establishing the AfCFTA entered into force on 30 May 2019 and brings together the 55 Member States of the African Union in a single market of about 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP of approximately US$3.4 trillion. The AfCFTA is the largest free trade area in the world by number of participating countries. The AfCFTA Secretariat, based in Accra, Ghana, and led by Secretary-General H.E. Wamkele Mene, coordinates implementation of the Agreement in cooperation with State Parties, the Regional Economic Communities and continental institutions.
About ADI Foundation
ADI Foundation is an Abu Dhabi-based non-profit foundation, founded by Sirius International Holding, dedicated to building sovereign-grade digital public infrastructure for emerging economies. The Foundation develops and stewards ADI Chain, an institutional-grade distributed ledger network launched in December 2025, and works with governments, central banks and leading financial institutions to connect businesses and economies to inclusive digital infrastructure across payments, trade and identity.
Media contacts
AfCFTA Secretariat
Alexandre Siewe — Senior Advisor, Communications Division
Alexandre.Siewe@au-afcfta.org · Tel: +233 302 986 252
Africa Trade House, Ambassadorial Enclave, Liberia Road, Ridge, Accra, Ghana · https://au-afcfta.org
ADI Foundation
media@adi.foundation · https://www.adi.foundation
Al Khatam Tower, 8th Floor, ADGM, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
