AfCFTA Trade in Services Protocol to Unlock New Opportunities for Africans, Says Director

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Trade in Services is expected to reshape how Africans work, create and do business across borders, opening up new opportunities for professionals, entrepreneurs and creatives throughout the continent.

This was the message from the AfCFTA Secretariat’s Director for Trade in Services, Emily Mburu-Ndoria, during a recent interview on the AfCFTA Podcast, where she highlighted the transformative potential of the protocol in driving continental integration beyond the trade in goods.

According to Ms. Mburu-Ndoria, services are the backbone of trade and play a critical role in facilitating the movement of goods across borders.

“There are no trading in goods without trading in services,” she said, explaining that transport, logistics, telecommunications and financial services are essential components of cross-border trade.

She noted that the Protocol on Trade in Services covers 12 broad service sectors, with negotiations currently prioritising five key areas: business services, communication services, financial services, tourism services and transport services.

Ms. Mburu-Ndoria cited the recent Creative Connect Africa event in Accra as a clear example of how the AfCFTA can benefit Africa’s growing creative economy. The event brought together musicians, filmmakers, fashion designers and other creative professionals from across the continent, many of whom had not previously considered the AfCFTA as relevant to their work.

“Nobody had thought that the AfCFTA can be that interesting,” she said. “Everyone hears about moving goods. They didn’t know that you can move music from one country to the other.”

She explained that the fashion and creative industries demonstrate how different AfCFTA protocols complement one another. While clothing is traded as a good, the creative designs behind the products are services. Intellectual property protections safeguard artistic works, while digital trade frameworks enable content distribution through platforms such as YouTube and Spotify.

The Director also identified the limited recognition of professional qualifications across African countries as one of the major barriers to deeper continental integration.

Questioning why African professionals often find it easier to have their credentials recognised outside the continent than within it, she called for stronger efforts to facilitate professional mobility among African countries.

“Why is it easier for the UK to accept my qualifications as a Kenyan, but it’s hard for Ghana to actually accept it?” she asked.

She attributed part of the challenge to long-standing perceptions and historical barriers that continue to influence how African countries view qualifications obtained elsewhere on the continent.

To address the issue, Ms. Mburu-Ndoria revealed that the AfCFTA Secretariat is developing guidelines for Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) and sector-specific recognition frameworks aimed at making it easier for professionals to work across African borders.

She stressed that increasing awareness of AfCFTA opportunities and changing perceptions will be crucial to the success of the agreement.

“Perception is everything” when it comes to trade in services, she said.

As the AfCFTA transitions from negotiations to implementation, Ms. Mburu-Ndoria expressed optimism that the continent’s service providers will increasingly benefit from expanded market access and greater collaboration.

“Africa has a lot, a lot to offer. It’s the lack of awareness, the lack of coming together, the collaboration that we need as a continent that is lacking,” she said.

Her remarks underscore the growing importance of the Trade in Services Protocol as a key pillar of the AfCFTA, with the potential to boost employment, innovation, investment and cross-border cooperation while creating new opportunities for millions of Africans.