Uganda is pushing for a unified African digital market to enable local businesses to sell goods and services across borders more easily, with the government calling for harmonised trade rules, reliable payment systems and efficient customs procedures to support regional integration.
Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Minister Sanjay Tanna said Uganda must participate in shaping the policies and systems that will determine how African countries conduct business in the digital economy, particularly as more enterprises turn to online platforms to reach customers.
Tanna made the remarks ahead of the KTA Annual Africa Technology and Intellectual Property Symposium 2026, scheduled for October 22 and 23 at Kampala Marriott Hotel under the theme, “Building Africa’s Digital Single Market: The Role of Government and the Private Sector in Achieving Regional Integration.”
“Uganda must help shape the rules and systems that will determine how Africa trades in the digital economy. Our businesses need to reach customers beyond our borders, receive payment reliably, deliver their products efficiently and compete in a market they can trust,” Tanna said.
The symposium is expected to bring together policymakers, regulators, business leaders, technology innovators, legal professionals and African e-commerce associations to discuss practical measures for making cross-border digital trade easier and more accessible to businesses.
Tanna said the discussions should produce proposals that benefit Ugandan enterprises, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, women entrepreneurs and young people seeking opportunities in the expanding digital economy.
He said digital trade supports the Ministry’s Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2030, which prioritises value addition, enterprise and cooperative development, export market access, e-commerce and the removal of trade barriers.
According to the minister, online platforms can help cooperatives find buyers, manufacturers access regional distribution networks and creative entrepreneurs earn from their intellectual property in markets beyond Uganda.
The agenda also aligns with Uganda’s Tenfold Growth Strategy and the ambition to build a $500 billion economy by 2040, with science, technology, innovation, information and communications technology and the creative industries identified as important drivers of economic transformation.
“Digital trade must therefore be part of how we increase the value and reach of Ugandan goods and services,” Tanna said.
Uganda’s participation in the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area is expected to be central to the discussions, particularly efforts to align national policies with regional and continental trade frameworks.
The EAC Customs Union and Common Market Protocols provide frameworks for customs cooperation and the movement of goods, people, labour, services and capital among partner states. However, businesses operating online still face practical challenges involving payments, documentation, delivery and the application of different national regulations.
Tanna said governments and regulators needed to work together to ensure that existing regional integration commitments translate into tangible benefits for businesses.
“A trader should be able to understand the applicable rules, complete the necessary documentation and move an eligible consignment across a border without avoidable delays. A service provider should be able to serve regional customers through predictable arrangements,” he said.
At the continental level, the African Continental Free Trade Area provides a framework for integrating African markets, including through its Protocol on Digital Trade, which seeks to establish common principles and rules for reducing barriers and promoting secure and interoperable digital commerce.
The symposium will feature a discussion with Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, on how Uganda and other African countries can contribute to building a digital single market that works for businesses in practice.
Lacina Koné, Director-General and chief executive officer of Smart Africa, is also expected to contribute to discussions on the continent’s digital economy.
The programme will examine several challenges affecting digital transactions, including cross-border payments, digital taxation, cybersecurity, consumer protection, intellectual property rights, customs procedures and last-mile delivery.
Organisers say the discussions will connect policy decisions with the practical experiences of businesses that depend on online platforms, financial service providers, couriers and logistics networks to operate and grow.
Tanna said the government wanted more predictable rules for cross-border digital businesses, payment and logistics systems that work across markets, and customs processes suited to smaller e-commerce consignments.
He added that consumer protection, responsible handling of personal data and protection of intellectual property would be important in building public confidence in digital trade.
Taxation is also expected to feature prominently, with participants examining value-added tax, digital services taxation and customs charges alongside the need to maintain competitiveness, reduce compliance costs and mobilise public revenue.
Tanna cautioned that the discussions should not be interpreted as decisions on proposed tax reforms, saying any measures would need to respect the mandates of the relevant regulators and safeguards necessary to sustain public trust.
The minister said government had a responsibility to provide a predictable business environment and coordinate institutions, while the private sector should identify obstacles, invest in workable systems and help test proposed solutions.
He said Uganda could contribute to continental policy development by presenting practical proposals through the EAC and AfCFTA processes and demonstrating how regional integration could benefit enterprises of different sizes.
The symposium’s convenor, Kenneth Muhangi, a partner and head of technology, media and telecommunications, intellectual property and sustainability at KTA Advocates, said the event would focus on the challenges businesses encounter when conducting transactions across borders.
Muhangi, who is also executive director of the Centre for Law, Policy and Innovation Initiative (CeLPII), said digital trade included goods ordered online and delivered physically, as well as services supplied over the internet.
He said social commerce had created opportunities for businesses using platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp to find customers, receive orders and build regular sources of income without necessarily operating conventional shops.
“When we speak about digital trade, we mean trade in goods and services that is ordered online or delivered digitally. Social commerce is part of that story: businesses use platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp to find customers, take orders and sell,” Muhangi said.
However, he said businesses seeking to expand beyond Uganda continued to face challenges involving payments, customs clearance, delivery and uncertainty over which rules apply when transactions go wrong.
For small enterprises, he said, the costs associated with overcoming these barriers could make it difficult to enter new markets, even when they already had products and customers.
Muhangi called for closer cooperation between government and private sector associations, arguing that businesses had practical experience and solutions that could help shape policies and improve the operating environment.
He cited Uganda’s Electronic Single Window, through which the Uganda Revenue Authority and TradeMark Africa have helped connect government agencies and simplify trade procedures, as an example of how collaboration could reduce the burden on businesses.
Muhangi said TradeMark Africa had reported that traders using the system saved $26.4 million in 2021 through reduced clearance times and paperless transactions.
He said the experience demonstrated how improving trade processes could free up resources for businesses to invest in additional stock, equipment and employment.
The symposium is expected to include contributions from the Bank of Uganda, Uganda Revenue Authority, TradeMark Africa, Posta Uganda, DHL Express Uganda and Jumia, among other institutions and businesses involved in payments, customs and delivery.
Muhangi said the programme was designed to allow participants to engage directly with institutions responsible for addressing the challenges they face, rather than limiting discussions to general policy proposals.
The organisers also envisage a memorandum of understanding between African e-commerce associations and a jointly developed policy paper outlining private sector priorities for an integrated digital market.
The proposed outcomes are expected to inform engagement with national ministries, regional institutions and the AfCFTA Secretariat, although the organisers say the recommendations will need further follow-up and implementation.
Tanna said participants should identify specific reforms, the institutions responsible for implementing them and the steps required to turn proposals into practical outcomes.
The symposium is being convened through collaboration involving KTA Advocates, CeLPII, the Uganda Law Society, the Alliance for Digital Trade, E-Mobility and Couriers Association-Uganda, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, with support from development partners and other institutions.
Other organisations supporting the initiative include GIZ and its Pan-African e-Commerce Initiative, the National Social Security Fund, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Embiro Technologies and the United States Embassy in Uganda.
Tanna urged businesses, innovators and development partners to participate in the discussions, saying the ultimate objective was to enable Ugandan enterprises to access wider markets, create jobs and retain more value from their innovations.
“Uganda should emerge from this conversation with practical proposals that help our enterprises trade across Africa, create employment, and retain more value from their innovation. That is the contribution we must make to Africa’s digital single market,” he said.
