Key Takeaways
The Africa Digital Access and Public Infrastructure for Trade (ADAPT) initiative, a key project of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) powered by IOTA's distributed ledger technology, has commenced its first pilot phase in Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. The project aims to build an open, interoperable digital foundation to unify trade systems across the continent.
"The full implementation of the AfCFTA could boost intra-African exports by over 80% and generate up to US$450 billion by 2035," H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, said. "This is not simply a technological shift, but a strategic transformation of how trade is conducted across our continent. By building trusted, interoperable digital systems, we are unlocking new opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises."
Developed with partners including the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the World Economic Forum, and the IOTA Foundation, ADAPT functions as an interoperability framework rather than a centralized platform. It allows national systems for customs, business verification, and payments to communicate without requiring governments to replace their existing infrastructure. The goal is to reduce the friction, delays, and costs created by fragmented, paper-based processes that currently hinder cross-border commerce.
This rollout marks a significant real-world test for using DLT in public infrastructure to solve complex logistical challenges. The initiative will now establish Country Implementation Forums and regulatory sandboxes to define use cases and identify legal bottlenecks, with the first forums expected by the end of June. If successful, the model could provide a scalable blueprint for digital trade integration across all 55 African nations.
The selection of Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria for the initial phase was based on a mix of regional balance, existing trade volumes, and political willingness to champion the initiative. Rather than overhauling domestic systems, ADAPT will provide a shared digital foundation for trusted data exchange, including secure digital identity systems and integrated payment infrastructure.
"Africa has a unique opportunity to leapfrog fragmented, paper-based trade systems and establish digital trust infrastructure designed for the future," Dominik Schiener, Co-Founder and Chair of the IOTA Foundation, said. "ADAPT is not only digitising processes, but it is also creating a shared, interoperable foundation where trade data can be trusted, verified, and exchanged securely across borders."
Initial efforts will focus on enabling live cross-border data exchange and digitizing trade documentation at the source. The lessons learned from this three-country pilot will inform a phased expansion, with South Africa and other countries in Central and West Africa potentially joining in a later stage.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
