• Smart Africa is working with 10 African countries to align e-commerce and digital payment policies.
• A workshop was held in Brazzaville to kickstart the harmonization process.
• The $1.7 million initiative aims to boost cross-border trade and digital transformation in Africa.

A new effort is underway to bring African countries together around a common approach to e-commerce and digital payments. A workshop held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, marked a key step in this process, bringing together policymakers, tech experts, and government officials to lay the groundwork for harmonized e-commerce regulations.

The event was organized by the Smart Africa Alliance and the African Research Center on Artificial Intelligence (CARIA), in partnership with Congo’s Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy. It’s part of a wider project called IDECT — short for Institutional Support to Digital Payments and E-Commerce Policies for Cross-Border Trade.

Smart Africa, which is leading the initiative, will study Congo’s digital payments and e-commerce landscape to identify gaps and opportunities. Congo is one of ten countries selected for this project, alongside Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

“We can no longer stand on the sidelines of the digital revolution. Africa must be the one building it,” said Congo’s Minister of Digital Economy, Léon Juste Ibombo. “Let’s create shared legal frameworks, build strong public-private partnerships, and invest heavily in digital education.”

IDECT, which was signed in January 2022, aims to help African countries overcome policy gaps that are slowing down cross-border digital payments. By tackling these issues, the project hopes to unlock faster growth in the African e-commerce market and boost trade between African nations.

The project is backed by $1.7 million in funding. Most of that—around $1.5 million—is coming from the African Development Fund. Smart Africa is also contributing resources worth about $170,000.

This initiative comes at a time when Africa’s digital transformation is picking up speed—but also facing real obstacles. The digital payments space remains fragmented, with more than 200 platforms that don’t work together. Rural areas still struggle with weak internet coverage—only 35% of them have access to 4G. And customs procedures are often slow and complicated, holding back up to 30% of informal trade across borders.

In this context, a unified digital policy could be a game changer. It would streamline payments, make cross-border business smoother, and help bring African economies closer together.

A report by TechCabal Insights, The Future of Commerce: Outlook for 2025, estimates that Africa’s e-commerce market could grow from $55 billion in 2024 to over $112 billion by 2029—a 105% increase in just five years. A more conservative forecast from Lithuanian fintech company Nikalupe projects the market will hit $45.7 billion by 2028, which would still represent nearly 49% growth in four years.

Adoni Conrad Quenum