One African market requires harmonised standards

Five years after the launch of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Africa's integration agenda has entered a new phase. Tariff liberalisation has opened markets and created new opportunities for intra-African trade. Yet one critical challenge remains: ensuring that goods that meet agreed requirements can move across African markets without unnecessary duplicative conformity assessment. If AfCFTA is to deliver a truly seamless single market, regulatory systems must become as integrated as the markets they are intended to serve. The progress achieved so far is significant. As of early 2026, 41 countries had submitted tariff offers, with 22 having gazetted provisional schedules aimed at eliminating nearly 90% of tariff product lines. With its secretariat in Accra operational, AfCFTA has firmly established itself as the foundation on which Africa intends to build a single continental market. Challenges for exporters However, Africa's fragmented regulatory environment creates significant obstacles for exporters, with technical barriers to trade (TBTs) accounting for 40% of trade restrictions across the region. These barriers arise from disparities in standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures (CAPs) and their application. WTO assessments also point to significant scope for strengthening trade-facilitation implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa, including border agency cooperation, testing procedures and risk management. The result is increased costs, delays and uncertainty that undermine the commercial benefit fully from tariff liberalisation. Recent experiences involving food products, agricultural exports and manufactured goods demonstrate the importance of continued cooperation in the interpretation and application of standards. Even where regional frameworks and harmonised standards exist, differences in implementation may result in additional inspections, testing requirements or certification requirements. By enabling countries to recognise testing, inspection and certification conducted by accredited institutions in other jurisdictions, mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) can reduce duplication, lower compliance costs and facilitate trade. Regional non-tariff barrier monitoring mechanisms continue to record cases where products that have already undergone conformity assessment in one market face additional testing, registration or certification requirements in another. Such cases highlight the importance of greater regulatory cooperation, harmonised approaches and recognition of conformity assessment results, where appropriate. Harmonisation of standards is the next frontier This is why harmonisation of standards, certification systems and regulatory processes is emerging as the next decisive frontier for AfCFTA. Trade agreements may open markets formally, but greater regulatory coherence and effective conformity assessment determine whether businesses can actually access those markets practically. A continent-wide free trade area will function most effectively when compliance processes are increasingly streamlined across borders. Closer regulatory alignment will therefore help translate tariff liberalisation that will deliver seamless, more predictable trade. In many respects, standards are the hidden infrastructure of commerce. When they are aligned, goods move faster, businesses operate with greater certainty and markets become more integrated. When they diverge; trade becomes fragmented, expensive and unpredictable. The implications extend beyond trade efficiency alone. Fragmented standards systems limit Africa's industrial competitiveness by increasing the cost of scaling production across multiple markets. Manufacturers seeking to expand regionally often face the burden of adapting products market-by-market to satisfy different regulatory requirements. Smaller businesses, meanwhile, struggle to absorb the costs associated with repeated testing, certification and delayed approvals. This is precisely why harmonisation matters. Beyond facilitating trade, common standards help build trust between regulators, businesses and consumers. They allow firms to scale production across multiple markets, encourage investment in regional value chains and strengthen Africa's competitiveness in global markets. Benefits of cooperation Encouragingly, the benefits of regulatory cooperation are already visible across several African regions. Across East Africa for example, there are visible outcomes on investments supporting to strengthen the "trust infrastructure". Standards and food safety interventions supported by TradeMark Africa have reduced the average time required for conformity assessment by 44%, from seven months in 2017 to four months in 2023, while median compliance costs have fallen by more than 50%. At the regional level, nearly 2,000 harmonised standards - more than 600 supported by TMA - are helping align regulatory requirements across agriculture, manufacturing and other traded-product sectors. These results demonstrate that investments in standards infrastructure and regulatory cooperation are not merely technical reforms; they are practical trade facilitation measures that directly improve market access and business competitiveness. The upcoming 32nd General Assembly of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) in August 2026 presents an important opportunity to accelerate this agenda. Beyond technical discussions, the Assembly should help build the political commitment needed to deepen mutual recognition, expand adoption of harmonised standards and advance the long-term vision of a stronger continental quality infrastructure and recognition of conformity-assessment results. Such measures would significantly reduce non-tariff barriers and bring Africa closer to the practical reality of a single market. AfCFTA has created the framework for a single African market. The next frontier is regulatory trust: reducing unnecessary duplication while maintaining confidence in product quality and safety. Tariff liberalisation opened the door; trusted standards and conformity-assessment systems will help African businesses walk through it. Andrew Edewa is director of standards and SPS measures at TradeMark Africa.