Digital trade gets a leap forward as the Africa Trade Gateway launches national adoption drive in Rwanda

In a move that signals Africa’s growing digital trade ambition, the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) has officially launched its national adoption awareness initiative in Rwanda. Announced on 14 October 2025 in Kigali, the campaign marks a pivotal step towards accelerating intra-African trade and deepening continental integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Developed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Africa Trade Gateway is described as a one-stop digital trade ecosystem that connects buyers, sellers, financial institutions and logistics providers across the continent. Its core purpose is to help businesses find trusted trading partners, secure trade finance, make cross-border payments and access new markets with confidence. By bringing these functions together within a single digital platform, ATG aims to scale up intra-African trade, promote economic integration and create jobs—particularly at a time when intra-African trade remains relatively modest, accounting for less than 15% of the continent’s total trade.

Rwanda’s selection as the launch market for the national adoption awareness initiative is significant. Positioned as one of Africa’s leading digital innovation hubs, the country has already aligned its trade, industry and digital strategies with the AfCFTA vision. Speaking at the launch event, Alexis Kabayiza, Chief Technical Adviser at Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, noted: “The Africa Trade Gateway represents more than technology; it symbolises Africa’s readiness to define its own digital destiny. Let us ensure that digital trade becomes a cornerstone of industrialisation, inclusion and resilience.”

The event drew senior government officials, banking executives, business associations and entrepreneurs, reflecting the multisectoral collaboration required for a platform like ATG to thrive. For businesses operating in Africa—particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to expand beyond national borders—the ATG platform promises to reduce friction in cross-border trade. By addressing familiar challenges such as complex documentation, payment delays, limited access to finance, unreliable logistics and a lack of trustworthy trading partners, the platform has the potential to simplify and accelerate transactions.

A Rwandan exporter, for instance, could use ATG to identify a credible buyer in West Africa, connect with a financial institution to obtain trade finance, and use the platform’s infrastructure to process payment and logistics. Similarly, banks and fintech firms can integrate their systems into the ecosystem to offer financing or payment solutions across markets that were previously segmented by national boundaries.

Unlocking Investment and Continental Integration

From an InnovAfricaDeals perspective, this initiative represents a strategic investment in Africa’s trade infrastructure. While not a “deal” in the conventional mergers and acquisitions sense, it is a transformative deal in the infrastructural and institutional context—a digital platform backed by a major pan-African financial institution and aligned with the AfCFTA’s market integration goals. As Afreximbank’s Director of Digital Banking, Emeka Onyia, declared at the launch: “The Africa Trade Gateway is a game-changer for African trade. This is the perfect place to take the Africa Trade Gateway to the next level—from concept to community, from potential to impact.”

The initiative aligns with broader investment trends focused on building the digital backbone that supports trade, logistics, payments and financial flows across the continent, unlocking new value from the AfCFTA framework. For governments and investors alike, supporting or integrating with ATG could yield significant returns by lowering trade barriers, expanding market access and strengthening the resilience of African supply chains.

Nevertheless, success is not guaranteed. For ATG to deliver on its promise, several conditions must be met: robust digital connectivity, trust among trading partners, reliable logistics and customs interoperability, regulatory harmonisation across countries, and strong uptake by SMEs that may lack digital readiness. Building awareness—hence the adoption campaign in Rwanda—is only the first step.

The launch of the national adoption awareness initiative for the Africa Trade Gateway marks a defining moment for digital trade in Africa. As the continent continues its integration journey under the AfCFTA, platforms such as ATG will serve as the highways of the new digital economy, enabling the seamless movement of goods, services, capital and information. For stakeholders across government, finance, business and investment, this is a development to watch—not only for its immediate impact, but for the transformative ripple effects it could unleash across Africa’s trade ecosystem.