IOTA has announced a partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to support a new pan-African digital trade initiative. The initiative, known as ADAPT (AfCFTA Digital Access and Public Infrastructure for Trade Initiative), is led by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. It aims to connect identity, data, and finance through a digital public infrastructure to facilitate trusted, efficient, and inclusive trade across Africa.

ADAPT seeks to transform Africa’s trade landscape by digitizing the movement of goods, data, and payments across the continent. This initiative is expected to unlock tens of billions of dollars in new trade value and enhance economic inclusion. The project will integrate seamless payments, secure data access, and digital identities into a single digital public infrastructure, enabling African countries to trade with greater security, transparency, and efficiency.

Unlocking African Trade Potential

Africa, with a population of 1.5 billion and a combined GDP of over $3 trillion, represents the largest free trade area globally. However, intra-African trade accounts for only 17% of total trade, compared to over 60% in regions like Asia and Europe. Structural inefficiencies, such as the lack of trusted digital identities and secure data exchange, hinder Africa’s trade potential. These inefficiencies result in delays and high costs, draining an estimated $25 billion annually from African economies.

ADAPT aims to address these challenges by providing a digital platform that removes barriers to trade. The initiative will create a trusted digital identity system, establish a cross-border data exchange, and develop an interoperable finance layer. These components are designed to reduce border clearance times, lower transaction costs, and unlock billions in trade finance for small and medium enterprises.

Technological Vision and Implementation

The technological backbone of ADAPT will utilize emerging technologies, including the public blockchain network of IOTA, to enable interoperability across national systems and industry platforms. IOTA will contribute its technology expertise to build and integrate ADAPT on its network, transforming trade by turning shipments, documents, and transactions into verifiable digital data.

ADAPT’s rollout will occur in three phases: pilot projects in select countries from 2025 to 2026, expansion to additional member states from 2026 onward, and a continental rollout by 2035. This phased approach invites collaboration from investors, innovators, and development partners to strengthen Africa’s digital trade economy.

For more information, the full announcement can be read here.

Why This Matters: Impact, Industry Trends & Expert Insights

IOTA’s collaboration with global partners for the ADAPT initiative aims to revolutionize digital trade across Africa by integrating identity, data, and finance into a cohesive digital infrastructure. This effort is set to enhance economic inclusion and unlock substantial trade value across the continent.

According to a report from African Leadership Magazine, the rapid growth in digital trade is significantly contributing to Africa’s GDP, job creation, and intra-African trade expansion. This aligns with the ADAPT initiative’s goal to transform Africa’s trade landscape by enhancing digital infrastructure and regulatory harmonization.

As per insights from CoinDesk, IOTA’s blockchain adoption is pivotal in transforming trade processes by digitizing systems to reduce costs and delays. This supports the initiative’s aim to facilitate secure and efficient trade across Africa.

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