Uganda’s Trade Minister, Sanjay Tanna, said this week that Uganda must help shape the rules for how African businesses take part in the digital economy. The Africa Technology and Intellectual Property Symposium opens in Kampala on 22 October under the theme “Building Africa’s Digital Single Market”, with AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene joining a conversation. The agenda covers cross-border payments, last-mile delivery, customs single windows, consumer protection, data, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and digital taxation, and organisers hope to secure an MoU among African e-commerce associations and a joint private-sector policy paper.

The Minister stressed that tax proposals under discussion, including VAT and digital services tax, have not been decided. Intellectual property sitting alongside payments and customs is a small sign of how digital trade is being framed.

The symposium will be held at the Marriott Kampala on 22 and 23 October and will bring together policymakers, regulators, business leaders, innovators and e-commerce associations. The Minister said discussions should benefit micro, small and medium enterprises, women entrepreneurs and young people, and he linked digital trade to Uganda’s 2025–2030 Strategic Plan, its Tenfold Growth Strategy and its goal of a US$500 billion economy by 2040.

He said existing East African Community customs and common-market protocols should make cross-border online transactions predictable and efficient, and described the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade as meant to harmonize rules and build trust. On roles, government should provide a predictable environment and coordinate institutions, while the private sector should supply evidence of obstacles and help test solutions. Organizers expect specific recommendations that name implementing institutions and set a follow-up timeline.

Source: The Cooperator News, 15 October 2026

Link: https://thecooperator.news/uganda-calls-for-practical-rules-to-drive-africas-digital-single-market/

Road to Nairobi: Kampala’s symposium puts technology and IP on one agenda just weeks before Nairobi. Read together, they show the conversation moving from separate IP and trade tracks to a single one.