The harmonisation of rules of origin under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to give businesses a common framework for determining which goods qualify for preferential treatment, potentially improving predictability in cross-border trade across the continent.
Didier Bonyeme, head of the Rules of Origin agenda at the AfCFTA Secretariat, said the framework is designed to ensure that tariff advantages under the trade agreement are granted to products that meet African origin requirements.
“When we talk about the rules of origin, it’s a very, very important notion, and as you mentioned, the gateway to trade under the AfCFTA, and even when it comes to trading goods in general, international trade, you cannot pass through rules of origin because when we are trading, it’s important to identify the product, so you cannot trade without identifying the product in terms of their origin,” Bonyeme said on the AfCFTA podcast.
Rules of origin determine the economic nationality of goods and establish whether products qualify for preferential treatment under a trade agreement. Under the AfCFTA, eligible products originating from Africa may receive tariff reductions or exemptions, depending on the applicable arrangements.
Bonyeme said the harmonised framework was developed through negotiations that began in 2018 and were almost finalised in October 2025, covering products classified under the Harmonised System of tariff nomenclature.
“We started the negotiations in 2018. Then we have almost finalised it in 2025. October 2025,” he said.
The negotiations involved product-specific rules linked to the classification of goods, with Bonyeme explaining that the system covers 97 chapters and more than 5,000 products.
Five Criteria for Determining Origin
The rules assess whether products are wholly obtained in Africa or have undergone sufficient transformation when imported materials are used in production.
Bonyeme identified five substantial transformation criteria: changes in tariff heading, changes in tariff subheading, value of non-originating materials, value added and process rules.
Under the tariff classification criteria, a product may qualify when its tariff heading or subheading differs from that of the materials used in its production. The value-based criteria assess the contribution of imported materials or the value added during production.
Process rules, meanwhile, can specify the production stages required for a product to qualify. Bonyeme cited textiles as an example, where requirements may include manufacturing from yarn or fabric.
The distinction is important for manufacturers using imported inputs. Bonyeme said a product can qualify through substantial transformation even when materials are sourced outside Africa, provided it meets the applicable rule.
“If it’s CTH or CTSH and just make sure that the heading or the subheading of the product is different from the heading or the subheading of the materials,” he said.
CTH refers to a change in tariff heading, while CTSH refers to a change in tariff subheading.
Trade Predictability
The common rules are intended to address uncertainty over how products are treated across different African markets.
Bonyeme said businesses in the automotive sector had previously questioned whether the rules would be applied consistently in countries such as Egypt.
“They were asking me, Mr Didier, do you think that this rule can apply in Egypt? And I told them, yeah, it’s harmonized,” he said. “Every country should obey that. Every country will apply the rules the same way. So there should be no difference in terms of implementation of the rules.”
He said the framework would allow exporters to consult Appendix 4 of the rules of origin documentation, which contains product-specific requirements based on the relevant HS code.
“If you make sure from the exporting country that you have complied with the rules, they issue the certificate of origin. You know that when the product reaches the destination, it will be granted preferential treatment. So you have no doubt on the way the rule will be implemented,” Bonyeme said.
For businesses, the ability to establish eligibility before shipping goods could help reduce uncertainty surrounding tariff treatment. However, exporters must still meet the applicable product-specific requirements and obtain the relevant certificate of origin.
The framework forms part of the AfCFTA’s broader effort to support trade integration by establishing common rules for the movement of goods across participating African markets.
