The Crucial Role of Trade Facilitation Reforms for East African Ports in Strengthening AfCFTA Implementation

The Crucial Role of Trade Facilitation Reforms for East African Ports in Strengthening AfCFTA Implementation

• Blog
• October 01, 2025

By Ambassador Kim Walusimbi  

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched in January 2021, represents a transformative vision for Africa’s economic future, aiming to create a single market for goods and services across 54 member states, with a combined population of 1.3 billion and a GDP of $3.4 trillion. For East African ports, which serve as critical gateways for intra-African and global trade, the success of AfCFTA hinges on robust trade facilitation reforms. These reforms are essential to unlocking the region’s potential, reducing trade costs, and fostering economic integration under the AfCFTA framework. As East Africa positions itself as a vital hub for continental trade, the role of its ports in driving efficiency, connectivity, and competitiveness cannot be overstated.

The Strategic Importance of East African Ports in AfCFTA East African ports, including Mombasa (Kenya), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and Djibouti, are linchpins in the region’s trade ecosystem. These ports handle a significant share of Africa’s maritime trade, serving landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. According to UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2021, Africa’s container ports account for 3.9% of global container port traffic, with East African ports playing a pivotal role in facilitating intra-African trade. The AfCFTA’s ambition to boost intra-African trade by 33% and reduce Africa’s trade deficit by 51% relies heavily on these ports’ capacity to streamline operations and reduce bottlenecks.

However, inefficiencies such as long vessel turnaround times, high logistics costs, and outdated customs procedures continue to hamper their effectiveness. For instance, UNCTAD notes that container ships in African ports, particularly in Tanzania and Sudan, experience some of the longest port call times globally. These challenges inflate trade costs, which can account for up to 40% of the cost of goods traded among African nations. Addressing these issues through targeted trade facilitation reforms is critical to realizing the AfCFTA’s potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty and increase Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035.

Key Trade Facilitation Reforms for East African Ports

To strengthen AfCFTA implementation, East African ports must prioritize reforms in the following areas:

1. Digitalization and Single-Window Systems

Digital tools are revolutionizing trade facilitation by reducing paperwork, enhancing transparency, and speeding up clearance processes. Countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have implemented single-window systems, allowing traders to submit regulatory documents through a unified platform. For example, Kenya’s Trade Information Portal has reduced waiting times by 110 hours and administrative fees by $482 for 52 trade procedures. Scaling these systems across East African ports, coupled with the AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol, can streamline customs processes and facilitate paperless trading, addressing gaps in regulatory infrastructure for e-versions of trade documentation.

2. Harmonization of Customs Procedures

Non-tariff barriers (NTBs), such as inconsistent customs regulations and lengthy border procedures, are a significant impediment to intra-African trade. The AfCFTA’s online mechanism for monitoring and eliminating NTBs is a step toward harmonization, but East African ports must align their customs frameworks with regional standards set by the East African Community (EAC). The EAC’s progress in consolidating trade negotiation offers demonstrates its role as a building block for AfCFTA, but further efforts are needed to standardize procedures across borders. Harmonized customs processes will reduce delays and costs, making East African ports more competitive.

3. Infrastructure Investment and Connectivity

Inadequate port infrastructure, including outdated equipment and limited berth capacity, undermines efficiency. The African Development Bank estimates that Africa requires $130–170 billion annually to address its infrastructure deficit. Investments in modernizing port facilities, such as expanding container terminals and improving hinterland connectivity through roads and railways, are essential. Initiatives like the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the $65 billion in investment commitments from the 2nd Dakar Financing Summit for Infrastructure (DFS-2) underscore the importance of public-private partnerships in closing this gap. Enhanced connectivity will reduce logistics costs and support AfCFTA’s goal of fostering regional value chains.

4. Capacity Building and Stakeholder Engagement

Effective trade facilitation requires skilled personnel and collaboration with stakeholders, including the private sector and informal traders. The AfCFTA Secretariat, based in Accra, plays a pivotal role in convening stakeholders and monitoring implementation. Training programs for customs officials and port operators, supported by organizations like UNCTAD and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), can enhance operational efficiency. Additionally, inclusive policies that support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and women traders, who dominate informal cross-border trade, will ensure that AfCFTA benefits are equitably distributed.

Contributions to AfCFTA Implementation

By implementing these reforms, East African ports can significantly contribute to AfCFTA’s objectives:

• Boosting Intra-African Trade: Streamlined customs and digitalized processes will reduce trade costs, enabling East African countries to increase their share of intra-African trade, which currently stands at just 15% of total African trade compared to 60% in Asia and 70% in Europe. Ports like Mombasa and Dar es Salaam can facilitate the movement of manufactured goods, which dominate intra-African trade, supporting AfCFTA’s commodity-based industrialization model.

• Enhancing Regional Value Chains: Modernized ports with efficient logistics will enable East African countries to integrate into regional and global value chains. For example, improved port connectivity can support the export of value-added products, such as processed agricultural goods, aligning with AfCFTA’s goal of promoting industrial development and diversification.

• Attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): The World Bank estimates that AfCFTA could increase FDI in Africa by 111–159% by 2035. Efficient ports will attract investment in logistics and manufacturing, creating jobs and fostering economic resilience. The success of Morocco’s Tanger Med port, which boasts some of the shortest vessel turnaround times globally, serves as a model for East African ports.

• Supporting SMEs and Informal Traders: By simplifying trade procedures and reducing costs, ports can empower SMEs and informal traders, particularly women and youth, who are critical to East Africa’s economy. The AfCFTA’s simplified trade regime, supported by Afreximbank’s financing facilities, will further enable these groups to participate in continental markets.

Challenges and the Way Forward

Despite their potential, East African ports face challenges, including slow ratification of AfCFTA protocols, such as the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, which only four countries have ratified. This limits the free movement of labor, critical for trade in services. Additionally, harmonizing regulations across the EAC and other Regional Economic Communities (RECs) remains complex, as some RECs are more integrated than others. Political will and sustained investment are needed to overcome these hurdles.

To move forward, East African governments, in collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat and RECs, should prioritize:

• Accelerating digital transformation through investments in e-trade platforms and cybersecurity.
• Strengthening public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure upgrades.
• Enhancing regional coordination to harmonize standards and reduce NTBs.
• Building institutional capacity through training and knowledge-sharing.

Conclusion

East African ports are at the heart of AfCFTA’s vision for a prosperous, integrated Africa. By embracing trade facilitation reforms—digitalization, harmonized customs, infrastructure investment, and stakeholder engagement- these ports can drive intra-African trade, enhance regional value chains, and attract FDI. I urge East African leaders to seize this opportunity to transform their ports into engines of economic growth, aligning with Agenda 2063’s vision of “an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa.” The journey to fully operationalize AfCFTA is complex, but with strategic reforms, East African ports can lead the way in unlocking Africa’s trade potential and fostering a more resilient and competitive continent.

The author is an AfCFTA Trade Advisor, Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Practitioner with extensive experience in regional integration, digital diplomacy policy, and a passion for advancing Africa’s economic & regional integration.