Kenya Launches Digital Trade Platforms to Drive AfCFTA Deal Execution

Kenya has unveiled two interconnected digital platforms, BiasharaLink and Deal House, aimed at transforming how trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is executed. The launch, held in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit, signals a shift from traditional policy frameworks toward tangible, technology led trade facilitation.

They are designed to turn diplomatic missions into active engines of commercial activity by capturing and advancing trade and investment opportunities across Africa. BiasharaLink allows embassies, exporters, and investors to formally record, structure, and track potential deals, while Deal House serves as the execution layer validating opportunities, matching parties, linking financing and steering them toward contract completion. This approach seeks to close the long-standing “trade execution gap” where thousands of inquiries rarely convert into actual transactions.

Leaders behind the initiative describe it as a new model of economic diplomacy that connects opportunities to deal execution, incentivises regional market integration, and supports small and medium enterprises as well as women led businesses. The rollout underscores Kenya’s ambition to leverage digital tools to deepen intra African trade, bridge structural trade barriers, and convert AfCFTA commitments into real, bankable economic outcomes.