This momentum aligns with the broader ambitions of the African Continental Free Trade Area, where digital systems are increasingly seen as the backbone of modern commerce. By strengthening connectivity, harmonizing frameworks, and enabling cross-border transactions, digital trade hubs are helping translate continental trade goals into practical, everyday economic activity. Global South Pole spoke with ICT and institutional development expert Poncelet Ileleji, who shared insights on how digital infrastructure, policy alignment, and openness are shaping Africa’s evolving digital trade landscape.
Ileleji emphasized that the success of digital trade in Africa depends on building strong digital public infrastructure and ensuring that systems across countries can work together seamlessly. He noted that improving connectivity, enabling interoperability between payment systems, and creating unified policy frameworks would allow businesses and individuals to fully participate in cross-border digital trade.
"So having the public digital infrastructure is important; you know, we have a lot of countries that are already doing a lot of stuff on that: building their digital public infrastructure […]. We saw what the COVID did; for example, schools closed for a while. When people have access to the internet, it creates a lot of things [...] Let us make our governments know that developing digital public infrastructure is key. And doing that, sometimes you have to partner with other countries who know it better. If you look at penetration rates of the internet, you look at all the small island states, Seychelles, and Mauritius; they have done better. In Cabo Verde, they have done better than a lot of big countries. We have to also develop what we call community networks; we have to encourage our big money-making firms, the mobile network operators in Africa, [...] that they should set up more community networks in rural areas because people today, their phone number alone has become their digital identity. Once we can get meaningful connectivity in all corners of Africa, then we are now really talking," Ileleji explained.
To listen to the whole discussion, tune in to the Global South Pole podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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