MOMBASA, Kenya — African countries are stepping up efforts to eliminate technical barriers to trade through harmonised standards, following resolutions reached at the 32nd General Assembly of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) in Mombasa.
The assembly, which brought together participants from 58 countries from Africa and beyond, ended with renewed emphasis on the “One Certificate” system as a way of making it easier for products certified in one African market to access others.
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Managing Director Esther Ngari said the discussions had established standards as a key instrument for integrating African markets and expanding intra-African trade.
“One is that standards unite Africa,” Ngari said.
She said countries should develop common standards that allow products to move across borders without undergoing repeated testing, which can increase costs and delay market access.
“Standards that will help us trade with each other and increase intra African trade. Standards that will help products move from Nairobi to Accra without having to be tested again,” she said.
Ngari said the assembly had also recognised the economic value of standards, particularly in enabling African countries to produce, add value and trade more among themselves.
“The second thing that we have agreed upon is that standards drive prosperity,” she said.
“We do not have to get products from Europe to come to Africa when we have the potential to do value addition in Africa and trade with each other.”
The outcome is aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose implementation requires countries to address technical and regulatory barriers that can make it difficult for businesses to trade across borders.
The assembly’s theme, “Standards Enabling Intra-Africa Trade under the AfCFTA: One Certificate Working for You,” placed standardisation at the centre of efforts to deepen continental trade.
Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, who was appointed ARSO Goodwill Ambassador during the assembly, said Africa must make mutual recognition of certification a practical reality for businesses.
He pledged to use his new position to engage governments and coordinating authorities across the continent in support of the One Certificate agenda.
“I will lend my voice and my office to advancing the ‘One Certificate’ agenda that anchors this Assembly,” Koskei said.
He said the ambition should be for a product tested and certified in one African country to be trusted across other African markets.
“A Continent where a product tested and certified in one African country is trusted, without friction, in fifty-three others,” Koskei said.
Koskei also called for standardisation and quality infrastructure to be incorporated into national economic transformation strategies, rather than being treated as a technical responsibility of standards bodies alone.
He described quality infrastructure as “a growth engine” capable of determining whether African farmers, manufacturers and exporters can compete at home, across the continent and globally.
The Mombasa assembly also marked a milestone for ARSO, with the continental standards organisation now having a permanent home in Nairobi.
Ngari said the development fulfilled a commitment made by the Kenyan Government through an accord signed in 1981.
“The crowning for this week has been that ARSO now has a permanent home in Nairobi,” she said, thanking the Government of Kenya for its support and goodwill.
The resolutions and commitments from the assembly are expected to strengthen efforts to use harmonised standards and mutual recognition to make African trade more seamless and support the continent’s industrialisation and shared prosperity.
