The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has urged governments to scale up support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the agricultural sector through targeted and sustainable trade facilitation measures.

The call was made by Acting Director of ECA’s Regional Integration and Trade Division, Melaku Desta, during the global launch of the 2025 United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation held virtually yesterday.

According to Desta, enhanced efforts in implementing specific trade facilitation measures, particularly trade facilitation measures for SMEs and agricultural trade facilitation, are crucial, considering that the sectors are the backbone of most African economies.

He added that this is particularly important in the context of the imperative for the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

According to the sixth edition of the UN Global Survey, Africa recorded a notable 6.8 percentage point increase in the implementation of overall trade facilitation measures, from 55.6 per cent in 2023 to 62.4 per cent in 2025.

The highest implementation rates are observed in the Southern and Eastern African regions, reflecting ongoing regional efforts to streamline and digitise trade-related processes.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, who coordinated the Global Survey, said the global trading environment has recently faced unprecedented challenges.

“Extensive tariff measures have introduced uncertainty and increased trade costs, while broader disruptions have exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. These trends underscore the urgent need to enhance the efficiency, transparency and resilience of international trade systems,” she said.

The survey confirmed strong performance by developed economies (86 per cent), followed by South-East and East Asia (81 per cent), while countries in the Pacific region recorded the lowest implementation rate (45 per cent).

Improvements were particularly significant in areas such as cross-border paperless trade, legal frameworks for e-transactions, and digital authentication, signalling growing global momentum toward digitised trade.

AfCFTA, including its newly adopted protocol on digital trade and its annexes, is believed to be instrumental in advancing inclusive and sustainable trade in Africa once they are ratified.

This year’s survey also introduces new measures on cross-border e-commerce and green trade facilitation, reflecting the growing need to align trade with environmental goals amid escalating climate challenges.