By Dayo Abiola
For over a decade as a corporate identity consultant, I have held a unique, professional position that has led me to a crucial insight, one that is largely unexplored in the discourse on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). While the world’s attention has focused on tariffs and infrastructure, my experience has revealed the AfCFTA’s true, fundamental challenge: a crisis of identity and the ethos that stems from it. Africa is home to the world’s largest free trade area, spanning 54 nations and a market of 1.3 billion people.
Yet, despite this monumental promise, trade between African nations hovers stubbornly around 16%—a stark contrast to Europe’s 68% or Asia’s 59%. The potential to lift millions from poverty and usher in unprecedented prosperity is real, but the bridge between ambition and reality is missing something far more fundamental than roads and ports.
Africa boasts an estimated 244 million businesses, a vibrant tapestry of innovation and ambition, but the vast majority of them lack a credible, professional face. Imagine trying to build a business relationship across a thousand miles with a partner who appears as a nameless, faceless entity. For AfCFTA to succeed, we must recognize a simple truth: businesses without a formalized corporate identity struggle to build the trust necessary for cross-border commerce. They are relegated to local circles, unable to access the continental highway AfCFTA promises.
So, what does AfCFTA mean for businesses in Africa? It means a Nigerian fashion business can now sell its goods to Ghana and Senegal without facing prohibitively high tariffs. It means a Kenyan tech startup can scale its software and services to clients in South Africa or Egypt with a single, unified trade policy. For farmers in Senegal, it means a direct path to new markets in Côte d’Ivoire, and for artisans in Morocco, it means a larger market for their craft in Nigeria.
This is the promise of AfCFTA: a level playing field and an unprecedented opportunity to grow your business beyond your borders and into the rest of the continent. But to seize this promise, a business must be recognized as credible and trustworthy.
To use the AfCFTA channel, businesses must follow a simple three-step process. First, get informed by researching the specific rules and benefits for your sector on official government and trade websites, such as the AfCFTA Secretariat. Next, get compliant by registering your business and products to meet the origin and safety standards required for cross-border trade, which you can learn about in the AfCFTA Operational Instruments Guide. Finally, get connected by listing your business on pan-African trade directories and engaging with relevant industry bodies and trade missions through the official AfCFTA Trade Portal. However, for each of these steps, a business’s credibility is constantly being evaluated. A professional corporate identity is what gives your business the legitimacy to be taken seriously by trade officials and the confidence to attract partners in new markets.
This is where the .africa domain becomes more than just a URL; it becomes a verifiable solution to Africa’s crisis of identity. Had the .africa domain extension received unprecedented adoption, the objective of AfCFTA would have been easier to realize because the World Wide Web fundamentally accelerates the rate of trade. The domain could have served as a powerful catalyst for AfCFTA, going beyond roads, rail, and ports by creating a unified digital identity that would have built trust and legitimacy across borders. You see, while complex customs procedures, high tariffs, and a lack of financing are indeed obstacles, a professional and verified brand identity is the key that unlocks access to that financing, simplifies customs vetting, and attracts partners who can help navigate these barriers.
The fact that this unifying online address remains severely underutilized, with only 56,274 registrations against 244 million businesses, is a tell-tale sign of a deeper issue. It’s a symptom of a mindset that views identity as an afterthought. A business that hasn’t formalized its ethos, purpose, and visual representation can’t credibly claim its digital territory. The .africa domain is a necessity for establishing digital infrastructure and legitimacy, and its low adoption proves a fundamental gap in how entrepreneurs approach their brands.
The path to unlocking Africa’s trade potential demands a mental shift. For AfCFTA to truly thrive, entrepreneurs must understand that their corporate identity and its ethos are the indispensable foundation for cross-border trust and trade. By prioritizing the creation of a professional, rule-based identity, African businesses can transform from informal ventures into credible entities, ready to navigate the vast continental market and claim their share of Africa’s trillion-dollar promise, one confident brand at a time. This is my blueprint for success. As corporate identity specialists, our passion for African businesses is what drives us to be the architects of this identity development. We are uniquely positioned to craft and implement the identities that will propel African businesses to global admiration, creating logos that are backed by solid narratives, values, and an ethos of excellence.
A must read for people who want to be leaders in the Africa Renaissance and Unprecedented Rise of a Giant.
