An alliance composed of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the Iota Foundation, the Tony Blair Institute, and the World Economic Forum is working together to develop a digital platform aimed at digitizing trade across the African continent.
According to the Iota Foundation, the project was announced on Monday and is named "African Trade Digital Access and Public Infrastructure" (ADAPT). It is an open-source digital public network that will facilitate cross-border payments through stablecoins and store digital trade documents and interoperable digital identity information.
Dominik Schiener, co-founder and chairman of the Iota Foundation, stated on the X platform that ADAPT aims to cover all 55 African countries by 2035, optimizing various operational processes related to trade.
ADAPT has also set other goals, including adding $70 billion in trade volume annually, reducing border clearance times from a maximum of 14 days to less than 3 days, and significantly lowering current cross-border payment fees from 6% to 9%.
Schiener said, "Border and customs clearance will be reduced from weeks to hours, cross-border payment fees will drop below 3%, and exporters will gain access to global trade financing liquidity."
According to the Iota Foundation, ADAPT will launch in Kenya in the first quarter of next year, then move to Ghana and a third, yet-to-be-confirmed country. The full launch is planned to begin in 2027 and continue until 2035.
"This will be a long and challenging road, but thanks to AfCFTA's commitment and the dedication of our partners, I believe we will achieve this mission to connect Africa through the world's most modern digital trade infrastructure," Schiener said.
The Iota Foundation noted that the technology has been tested in several other countries' public authorities, including the UK and the Netherlands.
Chido Munyati, head of the World Economic Forum's Africa region, pointed out that trade inefficiencies have become a significant barrier for many African countries, and he hopes to address this through digitization.
According to the Iota Foundation, paper-based documents and slow border payments that can take weeks are key issues.
Data from the online platform Statista indicates that by 2026, over 75 million users in the entire African region are expected to engage in cryptocurrency, with a user penetration rate of 5.9%. During the same period, the region's total revenue is projected to reach $5.1 billion.
Chainalysis released a report on October 2 stating that stablecoins currently account for about 43% of the total transaction volume in sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia being the top five markets.
Related: Singapore warns that unregulated stablecoins may pose systemic risks as new regulations are about to be introduced.
Original article: “Driving the Digitization of African Trade with Blockchain and Stablecoins”
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