AfCFTA, Digital Trade and Cross-Border Payments in Africa

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is usually discussed in terms of tariffs and rules of origin. But a growing part of the agreement deals with digital trade: online sales, data flows, digital identity and cross-border payments. For Tunisian exporters and fintechs, the AfCFTA digital trade rules could shape how they sell and get paid across the continent, once they come into force.

The AfCFTA in brief

The AfCFTA aims to create a single market for goods and services across African Union member states. It is built in phases: first trade in goods and services, then protocols on investment, competition, intellectual property, women and youth in trade, and digital trade.

Trade between African countries is still modest compared with Africa's trade with the rest of the world, but it is growing. According to Afreximbank data reported by Nairametrics, intra-African trade reached $213.8 billion in 2025, up 5.47% from 2024. Afreximbank has also estimated Africa's trade finance gap at about $100 billion a year.

What the Digital Trade Protocol covers

AfCFTA state parties adopted the Protocol on Digital Trade in February 2024. According to an analysis by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), it has 52 articles in 11 parts, covering among other things:

• digital payments and digital identities, under the heading of facilitating digital trade;
• data governance, including cross-border data flows, personal data protection and rules on where computing facilities must be located;
• business and consumer trust, including a ban on requiring access to source code as a condition of market access, with exceptions;
• emerging technologies, including fintech.

In February 2025, the African Union Assembly adopted the protocol's eight annexes, according to the Assembly decision published by tralac. They cover rules of origin, digital identities, cross-border digital payments, cross-border data transfers, source code disclosure, online safety and security, emerging technologies, and financial technology.

The payments annex

For fintechs, the most relevant text is the annex on cross-border digital payments. According to Further Africa, it aims to build secure, interoperable payment systems across Africa and covers:

• electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC);
• open application programming interfaces (APIs);
• fraud prevention;
• regulatory cooperation on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.

The data transfer annex adds an adequacy-based framework, under which data can move between countries with comparable protection standards.

On the infrastructure side, the main continental tool is the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which Afreximbank built to support the AfCFTA by letting banks pay across borders in local currencies.

Not yet in force

The protocol is still a promise. As of July 2026, Further Africa reported that it had not entered into force. It will apply 30 days after the 22nd state party deposits its ratification. Nigeria, one of the protocol's champions, had government approval to ratify but still needed to domesticate the text. Once the protocol is in force, states will have five years to align their national laws, according to IISD.

In short, the legal framework is written, but it will take years before it changes daily life for most traders.

Where Tunisia stands

Tunisia has been a member of the AfCFTA since July 2020, according to the Central Bank of Tunisia. It started using the preferential regime in 2023 with its first certificate of origin under the Guided Trade Initiative. According to the Ministry of Commerce, quoted by Maghreb Emergent in October 2026, 534 trade operations had been carried out under the AfCFTA regime. The same article notes that payment conditions, logistics and administrative procedures remain among the main obstacles for Tunisian firms.

Tunisia's trade with sub-Saharan Africa remains small. The trade minister said in June 2025 that it reached $550 million in 2024, including $425 million of exports, and estimated untapped export potential at $518 million, according to APA News. In Afreximbank's ranking of intra-African traders for 2025, Morocco (4.46%) and Egypt (4.35%) are in the top ten. Tunisia is not.

What it means for Tunisian fintechs and exporters

The digital trade agenda creates openings, but they depend on domestic reforms:

• Getting paid is the bottleneck. Tunisian exporters cite payment conditions as a barrier. Fintechs that can collect from African buyers and settle in dinars, through PAPSS-connected banks or licensed partners, address a real need.
• FX rules decide the pace. Cross-border payments still fall under Tunisia's exchange regulations. The foreign exchange code reform will determine how much of the AfCFTA's digital promise Tunisian firms can use.
• Data and identity rules need to align. The protocol's adequacy approach to data flows makes Tunisia's data protection reform a trade issue, not only a privacy issue. The same goes for remote onboarding under e-KYC and AML rules.
• Ratification is a policy lever. Tunisian business groups and fintech associations can push for ratification and for a voice in how the annexes are implemented.

The AfCFTA will not open African markets to Tunisian fintechs overnight. But the rules being written now will decide who is ready when cross-border digital payments in Africa scale up.