Digital Product Passports (DPPs) could become one of Africa’s most important trade and sustainability tools if governments, businesses and standards bodies move beyond viewing them as regulatory obligations and instead embrace them as strategic instruments for improving market access, strengthening intra-African trade and enhancing supply chain transparency, industry experts said during a recent webinar examining the technology’s growing role in global commerce.
The discussion, which brought together representatives from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, GS1 South Africa, SustainableDNA and Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), focused on how digital product passports could help African producers remain competitive as international markets increasingly demand greater transparency over product origin, environmental performance and social impacts. While the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is expected to accelerate adoption by requiring digital lifecycle information for products entering the European market, participants argued that the technology carries equally significant implications for Africa’s own industrialisation and regional integration agenda.
According to Dr. Talkmore Chidede, Senior Digital Trade Expert at the AfCFTA Secretariat, digital product passports align closely with the objectives of the continental free trade agreement by reducing information asymmetries that continue to constrain cross-border trade. African exporters, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), frequently depend on fragmented paper documentation to demonstrate product origin, manufacturing processes and regulatory compliance. Digital product passports replace these fragmented records with verifiable digital identities that can strengthen traceability throughout production and distribution chains while simplifying compliance with both regional and international trade requirements.
The implications extend well beyond export certification. Improved digital traceability could reinforce implementation of AfCFTA’s rules of origin by providing regulators with more reliable evidence of where products were produced and how value was added within African economies. This may allow a greater number of African manufacturers to qualify for preferential treatment under the continental agreement while reducing administrative delays that currently increase the cost of regional trade.
For many African businesses, the immediate driver behind digital product passports may be compliance with evolving European market requirements. However, Michele Padayachee, Global Standards and Solutions Executive at GS1 South Africa, argued that the technology should be viewed through a broader commercial lens. Rather than responding solely to European regulation, African producers have an opportunity to strengthen trust across domestic and regional value chains by demonstrating product provenance, manufacturing practices and sustainability credentials in ways that are verifiable and internationally recognised.
She pointed to South Africa’s Cape wool industry, where digital traceability systems are already supporting exports to major international markets by documenting the origin and handling of products throughout the supply chain. Similar systems could strengthen confidence among buyers, retailers and regulators within Africa itself, where growing regional trade will increasingly depend on trusted product information.
The emergence of digital product passports also reflects a broader evolution in sustainability reporting. Traditional ESG reporting has largely focused on corporate-level disclosures directed at investors and regulators. According to Belinda Carreira, Chief Executive Officer of SustainableDNA, digital product passports move sustainability information closer to consumers by embedding environmental, social and governance data directly within individual products.
Beyond recording environmental impacts, passports can capture information on labour practices, employment generation, water consumption, recycled content and broader social outcomes associated with production. This creates opportunities for consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions while providing governments with richer datasets to support industrial policy, localisation strategies and sustainable development planning.
Such product-level transparency may also strengthen Africa’s position within increasingly sustainability-conscious global supply chains. International manufacturers and retailers are under growing pressure to verify environmental and human rights performance across multiple tiers of suppliers. African producers capable of providing reliable digital product information could therefore improve their competitiveness in sectors ranging from agriculture and textiles to mining and manufactured goods.
Participants emphasised, however, that successful implementation will require African countries to engage actively in shaping international standards rather than merely adopting them after they have been developed elsewhere. Padayachee noted that work continues within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to establish technical standards for digital product passports, yet African participation remains limited despite the significant implications for exporters.
Without stronger representation, there is a risk that future standards may inadequately reflect African production systems, infrastructure realities and development priorities. Speakers therefore argued that harmonised African approaches should remain compatible with global frameworks while accommodating the continent’s own economic conditions and trade objectives.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of ensuring that digital product passports do not become another compliance burden for SMEs, which account for the overwhelming majority of businesses across Africa. While larger corporations may possess the technical and financial capacity to implement sophisticated digital traceability systems, smaller enterprises often struggle with basic record keeping and digital infrastructure.
According to Carreira, practical implementation should begin with accessible technologies such as smartphones and QR-code-based systems before progressing towards more advanced digital platforms. Larger companies were encouraged to support smaller suppliers through enterprise development initiatives, training programmes and shared digital infrastructure that reduces implementation costs across value chains.
David Ong’are, Director of Compliance at Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority, stressed that reporting systems should remain proportionate and avoid duplicating existing compliance requirements. Simplified reporting mechanisms will be particularly important for SMEs already navigating multiple environmental, trade and tax reporting obligations.
Digital product passports could also play an increasingly important role in advancing Africa’s circular economy ambitions. Product-level information on material composition, manufacturing processes and component sourcing may significantly improve recycling, repair and refurbishment industries by enabling better identification and recovery of valuable materials.
According to Ong’are, improved material traceability would strengthen extended producer responsibility programmes while supporting governments in developing more efficient waste management systems and resource recovery strategies. Carreira added that manufacturers themselves stand to benefit through improved product design, greater resource efficiency and reduced production waste as digital information reveals opportunities for optimisation throughout the product lifecycle.
The economic implications extend beyond environmental performance. As global markets place increasing value on transparency and responsible production, digital product passports may become an important source of competitive advantage rather than simply a compliance requirement. For African exporters seeking to diversify into higher-value manufacturing and deepen participation in global value chains, trusted product data may prove as commercially important as traditional factors such as cost and quality.
The webinar concluded that realising these opportunities will require sustained collaboration between governments, standards organisations, regulators, industry associations and the private sector. Building interoperable systems, harmonising data standards, expanding digital infrastructure and strengthening technical capacity Africa will determine whether digital product passports become another external compliance obligation or evolve into an instrument that enhances Africa’s competitiveness within both regional and global markets.
As sustainability expectations continue to reshape international trade, Africa’s ability to build trusted digital product ecosystems may influence not only its access to export markets but also the pace at which the continent advances regional integration, industrial development and value-added production under the AfCFTA framework.
