By Benadeta Chiwanda Mia
Malawi has emphasised the crucial role of digital trade in expanding market reach by leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Digital Trade.
Director of ICT in the Ministry of Trade Patrick Machika was speaking during the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol Sensitisation Workshop in Blantyre on Friday.
“With agreements across all African countries, we expand our market from just Malawi to the entire continent, benefiting businesses and consumers by offering more opportunities and choices,” Machika said.
The AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol, adopted by African Union (AU) members, addresses critical issues such as cross-border data flows, data localization, and online consumer protection.
Trade facilitation expert at the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa Shyret Nyabeze lamented the limited participation of African countries, including Malawi, in the digital trade arena.
Nyabeze underscored the need for an effective regulatory framework and infrastructure development to enhance participation and capitalize on the economic benefits of digital trade.
“Participation is still low, but digital trade offers immense economic contributions and job creation opportunities,” she noted.
Trade law expert Thokozani James Ngwira from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute emphasised the protocol’s potential to shift Malawi’s trade focus from agricultural products to services and broader goods trading across the continent.
He pointed out that recent steps by Malawi, such as the adoption of the Data Protection Act of 2024, align with the protocol’s objectives and enhance consumer protection in digital trade.
“Now we are moving in a setup where we are looking more at trading in services, but even in the same normal goods, but finding customers across the entire continent. So what it entails is that as a country, we need to update our policies so that it can facilitate that traders should benefit from digital trade,” Ngwira said.
The AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol is integral to the broader AfCFTA agreement, which aims to enhance trade capacity among the 55 African nations, to spearhead increased regional and international market access, and supporting economic growth of member states.
