How AfCFTA's ADAPT Could Transform Trade Across Africa

The Africa Digital Access and Public Infrastructure for Trade (ADAPT) initiative is emerging as a major step in advancing Africa’s digital trade architecture under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria have been selected as pilot countries for the first phase of implementation marking the beginning of real world testing for interoperable trade systems across the continent. The initiative is being developed through collaboration between AfCFTA Secretariat, World Economic Forum, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and IOTA Foundation reflecting a coordinated effort to modernise cross-border trade infrastructure. 

At its core, ADAPT responds to persistent fragmentation in African trade systems that continues to constrain intra-African commerce. Many countries still rely on manual documentation processes, fragmented customs systems and uneven digital infrastructure which increase transaction costs and slow down regional trade. Efforts to build integrated digital public infrastructure, as advanced by the World Economic Forum, are central to addressing these inefficiencies by enabling more coordinated and streamlined cross-border trade systems.

Beyond documentation and trade facilitation, ADAPT places strong emphasis on modernising cross-border payment systems through digital currency and stablecoin-based settlement frameworks. High transaction costs and delayed settlement times remain major barriers to trade expansion particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. Work led by the IOTA Foundation on interoperable digital payment systems highlights the potential for improving liquidity and enabling faster, more efficient regional trade flows 

The initiative also represents a broader shift toward integrated digital governance in African trade, where data systems, identity infrastructure and financial networks are increasingly interconnected. This integration is expected to strengthen transparency, reduce fraud risks and improve trust between public and private sector actors engaged in cross-border commerce. Research and policy development from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change emphasize the importance of secure and coordinated data systems in building reliable digital economies. 

If successfully implemented, ADAPT could significantly reshape the future of trade under AfCFTA by enabling faster, cheaper and more secure movement of goods, services and payments across Africa. The pilot phase will provide important insights into scalability and regulatory alignment across different economies. In the long term, the initiative has the potential to boost intra-African trade, strengthen regional value chains and position Africa as a global leader in digital trade infrastructure secured by the AfCFTA Secretariat.