#World Cotton Day exists because four African countries put it on the table. Benin🇧🇯, Burkina Faso🇧🇫, Chad🇹🇩 and Mali🇲🇱 took the proposal to the @wto in 2019, and the @UN recognised 7 October in 2021. This year the theme is transformation. Here is where the continent stands on it, and where it is already moving. Start with the gap. In 2024, #Benin sold about US$495 million of the same product outside the continent, Côte d'Ivoire about US$272 million and #BurkinaFaso about US$221 million. Across the continent, Africa imported about US$4.82 billion of cotton fabric. The fibre is here. The transformation is mostly elsewhere. Now the part that is changing. At the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) in #Benin, cotton worth less than US$2 a kilogram is transformed into finished products worth €17 or more. Towels that once travelled from #Cotonou to #Asia before coming back to nearby Lagos are now made in Benin and exported straight across the border. Benin is working to raise local processing from 40,000 to 140,000 tonnes, with the energy infrastructure that expansion requires. That is what implementation looks like in practice: jobs, manufacturing capacity, and value that stays on the continent. The tariff is no longer the main obstacle. Duties observed on cotton apparel traded within Africa average 1.35 per cent, against a benchmark of 42.63 per cent for non-preferential trade. What decides the next step is spinning, weaving, finishing, energy, finance and skills. And the ambition goes further than the factory. Africa should not only manufacture for other people's brands. We should design, own, brand and distribute our own products. The Secretariat will keep supporting the investment that makes this possible. For operators: use the African Trade Gateway (ATG) to identify market opportunities, connect with potential partners and access trade finance, payments and logistics solutions across the continent. Check applicable duties in the e-Tariff Book and confirm that your product meets the #AfCFTA rules of origin. One thing you can do today. If you spin, weave, finish or stitch cotton anywhere on the continent, tell us where you are: we are mapping the middle of this chain and we will publish what we find. #WorldCottonDay #CreatingOneAfricanMarket #AfCFTA #Cotton #Manufacturing

Origin can be a source of market value. 🌍 Geographical Indications distinguish products whose qualities, reputation or other characteristics are linked to where they come from. Join the Stakeholder Engagement Meeting on the #AfCFTA Geographical Indications (GI) Agenda (#AGIA) as stakeholders engage around the objective of advancing a value-driven and high-quality continental market for African GIs. 📅 Thursday, 15 October 2026 🕘 09:00-14:00 GMT 💻 Virtual Meeting Register: zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_… Save the date and register to participate. #AfCFTA #GeographicalIndications #IntellectualProperty #CreatingOneAfricanMarket

The #AfCFTA Secretariat and @africaipsummit partner to advance #IP for Africa’s Trade and Economic Transformation The #AfCFTA Secretariat and the All Africa Intellectual Property Summit have announced a strategic partnership to strengthen the role of intellectual property in advancing intra-African trade, industrialisation, innovation and Africa’s creative economy. The partnership will be highlighted at the 7th All Africa Intellectual Property Summit, taking place 11–13 November 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya. Read the full press release here: au-afcfta.org/2026/09/afcfta… #AAIPS2026 #AfCFTA #IPExcellenceAwards #AfricaIPMarketplace

Les nominations pour le prix d'excellence en Propriété Intellectuelle de l'#AAIPS ainsi que les candidatures pour Le Marché Africain de la Propriété Intellectuelle prennent fin le 30 septembre. Les parties prenantes de l'ensemble de la communauté de la #ZLECAf sont encouragées à participer. Prix de la PI : africaipsummit.com/nominatio… Exposition : africaipsummit.com/exhibitio… Prenez part aux opportunités offertes par les prix et le marché — et participez à l'événement #AAIPS2026 à #Nairobi. Inscrivez-vous ici : africaipsummit.com/registrat… #AAIPS2026 #AfCFTA #IPExcellenceAwards #AfricaIPMarketplace

Nominations for the All Africa IP Excellence Awards and applications for the Africa IP Marketplace close on 30 September. Stakeholders across the #AfCFTA community are encouraged to participate. IP Awards: africaipsummit.com/nominatio… Exhibition: africaipsummit.com/exhibitio… Take part in the awards and marketplace opportunities — and be part of #AAIPS2026 in Nairobi. Register here: africaipsummit.com/registrat… #AAIPS2026 #AfCFTA #IPExcellenceAwards #AfricaIPMarketplace

At the 81st @UN General Assembly, SG @MeneWamkele opened the #AGII Industrial Demand Forum with #Kenya's Climate Envoy Amb. Ali Mohamed and the Open Society Foundations. The question: what will the market buy — at what scale, on what terms, by when. #AfCFTA #AGII

Meet the Africa #IPDay 2026 #SGPrize recipients. Gold: Fade Elisee - UP ELEC SARL, Benin Silver: Theophile Kamgang – BIOGENIX, Cameroon Bronze: Ejikeme Nwosu - Lumos Laboratories, Nigeria The SG Prize recognises exceptional accomplishments involving intellectual property within the context of the #AfCFTA. #2026AIPD #AfCFTA #IntellectualProperty #CreatingOneAfricanMarket

Meet the Africa IP Day 2026 My IP Story awardees. Gold Medal: Chioma Rosemary Onyekaba - Beauty & Brains Foundation Printing Press Nigeria Silver Medal: John Wobil - Wobil Technologies Limited, Ghana Bronze Medal: Grace Akatuha - Kikazi Agri-Products Limited, Uganda Their recognition brings practical African experiences of using intellectual property for value creation and business growth to the fore. #2026AIPD #AfCFTA #IntellectualProperty #CreatingOneAfricanMarket

Africa's ideas should not lose their value at the border. On 10 September, the #AfCFTA Secretariat marked #2026AIPD under the theme, "Growing Business Under the #AfCFTA IP Ecosystem". The discussion examined how stronger intellectual property frameworks can help African businesses protect, commercialise and finance intangible assets as they expand across markets. The programme also featured My IP Story and the SG Prize. Protecting African innovation is a business, investment and trade imperative. #AfCFTA #IntellectualProperty #CreatingOneAfricanMarket

Le marché unique africain ne vaut que par les entreprises capables de s’en saisir. Aujourd’hui à #Libreville, l’initiative #AfCFTA SME Booster ouvre sa cohorte Afrique centrale : préparation à l’exportation, accès aux marchés, règles d’origine, commerce numérique, logistique, financement. #ZLECAf #SMEBooster #CommerceIntraAfricain #Libreville

Congratulations to Somalia — the 50th State Party to the #AfCFTA Agreement. This 4 September 2026, the Federal Republic of Somalia deposited its instrument of ratification at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This milestone reaffirms Somalia’s commitment to Africa’s economic integration and strengthens our collective efforts to build one African market. The #AfCFTA Secretariat welcomes Somalia and looks forward to supporting the country’s implementation journey. #Somalia #OneAfricanMarket #IntraAfricanTrade

“Accelerating regional integration in the Horn of Africa is not only important for the countries of the region. It is an essential contribution to the implementation of the #AfCFTA and to Africa's wider economic transformation.” H.E. @MeneWamkele Secretary-General, AfCFTA Secretariat Horn of Africa Initiative Trade Ministers' Meeting

Le Secrétariat de la #ZLECAf et #QuestGhana Limited ont signé un Accord de coentreprise en vue de la création du Corridor de commerce numérique de la #ZLECAf, d’une valeur de 5,17 milliards de dollars, avec le soutien souverain de la République des #Seychelles. Lisez l’annonce complète ici : au-afcfta.org/2026/09/le-sec… #ZLECAf #CommerceNumérique #CommerceIntraAfricain #MiseEnŒuvreDeLaZLECAf #ÉconomieNumérique #CommerceAfricain #ZoneDeLibreÉchangeContinentaleAfricaine #CommerceEnAfrique #Seychelles

The #AfCFTA Secretariat and #Quest Ghana Limited have signed a Joint Venture Agreement to establish the $5.17 billion #AfCFTA Digital Trade Corridor, with sovereign support from the Republic of #Seychelles. Read the full announcement here: au-afcfta.org/2026/09/afcfta… #AfCFTA #DigitalTrade #IntraAfricaTrade #AfCFTAImplementation #DigitalEconomy #AfricaTrade #AfricanContinentalFreeTradeArea #TradeInAfrica #Seychelles #QuestGhana