AU Protocol on Digital Trade expected to boost DPI in Africa: AfCFTA SG

The Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, is hopeful that the adoption of the African Union (AU) Protocol on Digital Trade will inspire African governments to increase their investments in digital public infrastructure (DPI) in the push for an inclusive digital future and a single African digital market by the year 2030.

In a keynote address during the recent GITEX Africa event which took place this month in Morocco, Mene made a strong case for digital infrastructure as a lever of Africa’s single digital market ambition, stating that “technology will be key to unlocking Africa’s full potential.”

Two experts, last December, told Biometric Update of the enormous role DPI can play in accelerating the single market ambition.

The Protocol on Digital Trade was adopted in 2024, but its eight annexes were adopted by African Heads of State in February last year, paving the way for the full establishment of a comprehensive framework for digital trade on the African continent.

Issues addressed in the annexes include cross-border digital payments, cross-border data transfers, digital identity, fintech, advanced technologies like AI and blockchain, as well as digital safety and security.

The Protocol and its annexes are part of efforts by the AfCFTA to create a single digital African market as enshrined in the AU’s Agenda 2063, which defines the continent’s phased trajectory for economic growth and integration.

The blueprint will go into full force once it has been ratified by at least 22 State parties.

Mene said with this rules-based framework in place, the challenge is now on African governments to take expedient actions in building the necessary digital infrastructure needed to attain their domestic as well as continental digital economy objectives.

He lauded the progress already being made by countries like Morocco in digitizing and transforming their economies, noting that such progress is in total alignment with the AfCFTA’s Protocol on Digital Trade.

Many African countries are currently in the process of building digital public infrastructure with digital ID systems as the foundational layer.

According to the AfCFTA SG, the Protocol, which is the first of its kind in the world, offers Africa an opportunity not just to leapfrog others, but also an opportunity to be at the cutting edge of digital innovation.

“This protocol will underpin all of the progress that we have made. It will establish a harmonized regulatory framework, enable the private sector to invest in digital public infrastructure, help our banks to conduct and enable payments across borders in a manner that is interoperable, and most importantly, facilitate and nurture emerging technologies,” Mene told a packed hall in Marrakech.

The digital technologies and infrastructure, he noted, are necessary in offering a pathway to “overcome long-standing structural barriers and fragmentation amongst African countries by ensuring that we improve trade efficiency, enable our value chains such as agriculture, health, technology and that we enhance competitiveness and expand digital inclusion particularly for small and medium enterprises that are led by women and young people.”

Mene said Africa’s digital economy prospects are bright, citing projections by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) that it will reach $721 billion by 2050. He asserted that in order to make the projection a reality, countries must continue to harness the opportunities that are available to them.

“We must continue to accelerate the digitization of our economy, leveraging the protocol on digital trade, leveraging private sector investment in digital infrastructure and, of course most importantly, ensuring that we adhere to our most important imperative which is digital inclusion of SMEs and youth,” he urged.

Digital economy growth also requires closing the existing gaps in Africa’s data ecosystem, and there is no other way to do that than to keep investing in data infrastructure, according to Mene.

“We estimate that by the year 2035, Africa shall require over 700 data centers to continue to power its industrial development in the digital economy. This gap remains a significant opportunity and a challenge,” he stated.

“It’s an opportunity for investment, and an opportunity for us to expand our capacity as a continent. But of course, we will require private sector investment for this, as well as our development finance institutions in a syndicated manner, to finance Africa’s digital development.”

Mene spoke at a GITEX Africa event that featured several technology-focused panels, including that that highlighted the importance of multisector collaboration in building digital ID trust.

Article Topics

Africa  |  African Union  |  digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  digital trust  |  GITEX Africa 2026