Kenya has unveiled two digital trade platforms aimed at transforming African embassies into active commercial hubs, in what is emerging as a shift from policy talk to deal-making under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The platforms, BiasharaLink and Deal House, were launched Thursday, February 12 at a high-level reception in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit. The event brought together senior government officials, ambassadors, representatives of the African Union, multilateral development institutions and private sector leaders.
The initiative is designed to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by closing what leaders termed Africa’s “trade execution gap”, viewed as persistent disconnect between trade agreements and actual cross-border transactions.
Developed in partnership with Real Sources Africa, Kenya’s designated AfCFTA Trading Company, and supported by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Equity Group Holdings, the platforms seek to digitise and coordinate trade opportunities generated through Africa’s more than 1,000 diplomatic missions.
Speaking at the launch, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi said the move marks a new era in economic diplomacy.
“BiasharaLink and Deal House represent a new model of economic diplomacy; one that is results oriented. It provides a common platform for capturing and organising opportunity. It connects opportunity to execution. Together, the platforms turn diplomacy into delivery,” Mudavadi said.
Equity Group CEO James Mwangi framed the launch as a structural turning point for Africa’s trade architecture.
“Africa does not suffer from lack of opportunity. We suffer from lack of structured execution. When we institutionalise execution, growth becomes predictable,” Mwangi said.
He argued that while trade agreements have laid the groundwork for integration, the real test lies in converting commitments into financed, bankable transactions.
“A trade agreement is a promise. A financed transaction is progress. Our role is to bridge that gap,” he said.
Mwangi described the partnership between government and private sector as the building of a “trade superhighway,” anchored on digital infrastructure that connects producers, buyers, logistics providers and financiers in one seamless system.
“Digital infrastructure is the new trade corridor. It connects producers, buyers, logistics, and finance in one seamless flow. Integration becomes real the moment a product crosses a border, a payment is settled, and value is created on both sides,” he said.
He emphasised that Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises are not short on competitiveness, but on access.
“Africa’s SMEs are competitive. What they require is structured access to markets and finance. When you solve that, you unlock scale,” Mwangi noted.
He added that trade must shift from informal networks to institutional systems.
“Trade must move from informal relationships to formal systems. Systems create transparency. Transparency creates confidence. Confidence attracts capital,” he said.
Mwangi cautioned that AfCFTA should not be viewed as a single milestone but as a sustained process.
“AfCFTA is not an event. It is an execution journey. And execution requires platforms, partnerships, and patient capital. Diplomacy must now deliver measurable economic outcomes. It must originate deals, structure transactions, and close opportunities,” he said.
Under the new framework, BiasharaLink will function as a digital registry where diplomatic missions, exporters and investors formally capture and track trade and investment opportunities aligned with AfCFTA priorities.
Deal House will serve as the execution layer validating opportunities, matching credible counterparties, linking transactions to financing and pushing them toward contract closure.
According to Felix Chege, founder and CEO of Real Sources Africa, the idea was born out of a stark reality.
“We realised that our embassies collect 3,500 trade enquiries a month, but the closure rate of deals was less than one per cent. Our main goal is to build the infrastructure and ecosystems that can drive trade, investment and financing to move this continent forward,” Chege said.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said the initiative comes at a time when global supply chains are increasingly fragmented.
“As the world is moving ever closer to supply chain disruptions and increased industrial protectionism, our continent is moving in the opposite direction. We have no alternative but to succeed; we have to build a very strong domestic market,” Mene said.
Mathias Kamp, Regional Director at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, said five years after its launch, AfCFTA’s promise remains largely untapped.
“The AfCFTA needs to move to the next level. Five years on, the potential remains untapped. I’m convinced that what we are launching today will be a significant step forward in unlocking trade,” Kamp said.
The launch highlights Nairobi’s intent to anchor its foreign policy on commercially measurable outcomes, aligning with Kenya’s leadership role in AfCFTA implementation under President William Ruto, who chairs the AU Assembly Committee of Heads of State and Government on AfCFTA implementation and serves as Co-Champion of the Digital Trade Protocol.
With trade execution placed at the centre of discussions ahead of a pre-AU Summit committee meeting in Addis Ababa, Kenya is positioning digital systems as the new engine of continental integration.
