Fresh call for single digital borders by African nations to facilitate cross-border trade

There is a new call from development policy stakeholders for African nations to introduce one-stop-shop borders and digitize all related services in order to enhance the movement of people and goods across the continent.

This call came strongly during the 2025 Africa Resilience Forum which took place recently in Cote d’Ivoire’s commercial capital Abidjan, according to a news release from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). The Bank organisers the event which takes place once every two years where stakeholders gather to discuss peace-building efforts, trade and investment in Africa.

In the course of a panel discussion tagged “Regional Integration and Trade as Pathways to Peace,” various speakers emphasized the need to streamline border processes if the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement must be scaled up.

The AfCFTA is a continental trade deal which has a potential market of 1.3 billion people, and is ratified by 49 African countries as of January this year. The idea is to create a single African market that encourages lucrative intra-continental trade among nations, but the movement of persons and goods across borders remains a major hinderance.

A Chief of Staff of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mohammed Abdiker, said there is the necessity to have a single border post between countries to make entry and exit hassle-free. This, he said, will also reduce delays and cut cost.

“If we were to have strong infrastructure like that, it would help facilitate trade. We must all work together, advocating to our governments on the importance of the movement of goods and people for a more integrated management of our borders. Not only for customs duties, but also for science and technology,” he said during the panel.

The official cited examples of countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, as well as Cameroon and the Central African Republic where single border posts infrastructure were set up with the assistance of the IOM, and are working to facilitate the movement of persons and goods. Zambia and Zimbabwe also have a similar arrangement.

Also speaking during the Forum was Liberia’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Magdalene Dagoseh, who highlighted the need to go beyond one-stop-shop borders, to digitizing all border services.

“As well as having a single border post at each of our borders, we will need to digitise border services,” said Dagoseh. “This is a solution for controlling not only the movement of people, but also commercial goods. By digitising the various border points, we can fight corruption – we know how many people have left or entered, and this prevents other problems.”

Other suggestions made in the past in relation to enhancing cross-border trade in Africa under the banner of the AfCFTA include the building of solid interoperable digital public infrastructure, specifically a single interoperable African digital ID.

In an interview with Biometric Update last month, a financial industry expert also highlighted the role of efficient digital payment infrastructure in facilitating cross-border trade transactions across Africa.

Article Topics

Africa  |  border management  |  cross-border data sharing  |  digital ID  |  digital identity