TradeMark Africa From faster borders to stronger systems

September 28, 2026

Aerial shots of Rubavu Port – Image2-Courtesy

For more than 15 years, TradeMark Africa has focused on reducing the cost and complexity of trade. What has changed over this period?

A lot. In the early years, the mission was clear: make trade faster and cheaper. That meant ports that worked, border crossings that operated efficiently, and corridors that flowed. We tracked success in hours saved, costs reduced, and more recently, emissions cut. Those efforts aligned squarely with the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement and the evidence was strong: lower trade costs drive competitiveness, integration and exports.

And did it work?

Absolutely. Border crossing times fell. Paperwork was streamlined. Transport corridors became more reliable. The gains were real and measurable. But as reforms deepened across countries and regions, something else became clear: efficiency alone does not guarantee lasting or inclusive growth.

What was missing?

Efficient systems. Faster borders do not automatically translate into sustained export growth or broad participation. Trade facilitation works best when it is treated as system reform – anchored in institutions, shaped by policy, enabled by technology, and judged by what it delivers to people and businesses.

How did that insight change the approach?

It pushed us beyond bricks and mortar. Infrastructure like One Stop Border Posts and port upgrades remains essential, but it does not deliver on its own. Without regulatory reform, digital interoperability and coordinated border management, delays and unpredictability creep back in.

Take the Dar-Tunduma corridor between Tanzania and Zambia. Infrastructure upgrades helped, but it was regulatory streamlining and institutional coordination that made the difference. Transit times dropped by about 40 per cent, and border cargo clearance fell by roughly 30 per cent. That is an example of systems at work.

Were the benefits evenly shared?

Not at first. Early gains were captured mostly by larger firms in the formal sector. Meanwhile, non-tariff barriers – like inconsistent rule application and weak agency coordination – continued to raise costs, especially for small traders. That is when we stopped assuming participation would “just happen” and started designing for it.

What does “inclusion as a design principle” look like in practice?

It means lowering information barriers, simplifying procedures, and opening access to standards and certification. Digital platforms now provide real-time trade and market information alongside regulatory reforms. The result? More than 50,000 traders have transitioned from the informal sector, and nearly 100,000 now use the iSOKO digital platform to navigate markets with confidence instead of guesswork.

You keep coming back to institutions. Why?

Because institutions determine whether reforms stick. Political will can unlock reform, but only when institutions have the capacity to act. Where mandates are fragmented or coordination is weak, efficiency gains tend to be short-lived.

Across several corridors, better inter-agency cooperation has cut border clearance times by 30 per cent to 80 per cent. In East Africa, the resolution rate for reported non-tariff barriers rose from 43 per cent in 2016 to over 90 per cent in 2023, while resolution times fell from more than a year to just over two months.

What about standards and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, often seen as obstacles?

Institutions also shape how firms experience standards and SPS requirements. When certification systems are slow or costly, standards are perceived as obstacles. Where institutions are strengthened and procedures streamlined, compliance becomes a pathway to competitiveness. We have seen certification timelines cut by nearly 50 per cent, opening higher-value markets to a much wider range of producers.

So, what is the new bottom line for trade facilitation?

Time, cost and emissions still matter – but they are no longer enough. The real test is what those gains enable when they are embedded in systems that work predictably and at scale.

When systems function, exporters meet standards consistently. Producers benefit from predictable trade flows that support investment and income stability. Small traders engage in cross-border trade with greater access, confidence and agency. That is when trade facilitation stops being about speed – and starts driving sustainable, inclusive transformation.