The Smartphone for Africa Initiative aims to increase local smartphone manufacturing and cross-border trade in Africa by creating a Digital Trade and Regulatory Sandbox Framework under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). To achieve this, two pivotal workshops were convened, that is, a virtual workshop that was held on 25th March, 2025, and an in-person event that was held on 2nd April, 2025, in Kigali, Rwanda.

These workshops brought together key stakeholders from Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda, Lesotho, Nigeria, and Uganda to collaboratively develop the Digital Trade and Regulatory Sandbox Framework. The primary objective was to create a comprehensive framework to enhance cross-border trade, regulatory coherence, and digital policy harmonization in Africa, with a specific focus on Health Artificial Intelligence (AI). By the end of the workshops, a draft framework was expected to be developed for further feedback and approval, serving as a model for sustainable digital economies and intra-African collaboration under the AfCFTA.
Africa is standing at a defi ning moment in its digital journey. On April 2, 2025, at the Kigali Marriott Hotel, over 60 stakeholders from across the continent convened for a groundbreaking workshop under the Smartphone for Africa and AI for Health initiatives. This gathering, co-convened by Qhala, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and funded by Google.

The workshop brought together government officials, manufacturers, technologists, funders, researchers, and policymakers from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Lesotho, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and beyond. These voices represented the diversity and depth of Africa’s innovation ecosystem, each bringing perspectives rooted in local realities and continental ambition.

At the heart of the workshop was a bold goal: to co-create a Digital Trade and Regulatory Sandbox Framework to unlock Africa’s capacity to:

Manufacture smartphones and device components locally.
Govern AI for health in a harmonized and inclusive way.
Accelerate trust, trade, and investment under the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade.

The sandbox is not theoretical. It is a practical mechanism for enabling cross-border innovation, reducing costs of hardware and health services, and de-risking investment in early-stage digital infrastructure.

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