Borderless Identity: The Implementation Gaps in AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol

In this brief

AfCFTA is building Africa’s single market. But a digital market cannot function without trusted digital identity.

In Volume 1, Issue 4 of the Diamond Brief Series, Galandi Tony Kiire and Priscilla Nayiga explore Borderless Identity and the legal architecture emerging from the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol and its Annex on Digital Identities.

The Protocol answers an important question: digital identity now formally belongs within Africa’s trade framework. The real challenge now is implementation.

This brief examines

• How the Digital Trade Protocol embeds digital identity within Africa’s digital trade ecosystem
• The role of interoperability, mutual recognition, and cross-border authentication
• Why digital identity is becoming the trust infrastructure for cross-border payments, e-commerce, and digital services
• The implementation gaps that could reproduce regulatory fragmentation if left unaddressed

AfCFTA’s digital market will not be built by tariffs alone. It will depend on whether Africa can develop trusted, interoperable identity systems that work across borders while respecting sovereignty and data protection.

The law now points clearly toward integration. The question is whether implementation will follow.