Two new digital platforms, BiasharaLink and Deal House, aim to convert trade enquiries into trackable, financed deals by repositioning diplomatic missions as execution-focused facilitators.
Kenya has unveiled two digital trade platforms, BiasharaLink and Deal House, positioned as a shift toward “digitally driven economic diplomacy” designed to accelerate intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The launch took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, alongside the 39th African Union Summit.
Embassies as Transaction-Enabling Hubs
BiasharaLink and Deal House are intended to “transform African embassies into active hubs for trade and investment” and to “reposition diplomatic missions as transaction-enabling hubs for trade and investment.”
They were developed by Real Sources Africa, described as “a pan-African trade infrastructure institution” representing (and serving as) Kenya’s AfCFTA Trading Company.
Closing the “Trade Execution Gap”
A core rationale for the rollout is what officials and developers describe as Africa’s “trade execution gap”, a disconnect between trade enquiries and completed deals.
Felix Chege, founder and CEO of Real Sources Africa, said: “We realized that our embassies collect 3,500 trade enquiries a month, but the closure rate of deals was less than 1 per cent. Our main goal is to build the infrastructure and ecosystems that can drive trade, investment and financing to move this continent forward.”
How BiasharaLink and Deal House Work
BiasharaLink is expected to allow diplomatic missions, exporters, investors, and market participants to formally capture, organize, structure, track, and manage trade and investment opportunities aligned with AfCFTA priorities.
Deal House is framed as the execution layer and “execution engine”, validating opportunities, matching them with credible counterparties, connecting them to financing, and moving them toward contract signing or completion.
Policy Framing, Leadership, and Intended Beneficiaries
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi described the initiative as a delivery-focused approach: “BiasharaLink and Deal House represent a new model of economic diplomacy — one that is results-oriented. It provides a common platform for capturing and organizing opportunities. It connects opportunity to execution. Together, the platforms turn diplomacy into delivery,” he said.
AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene noted that as global supply chains face disruptions and rising protectionism, Africa must deepen its internal market. He said the continent has no alternative but to build a strong domestic market anchored on effective trade systems.
The initiative places emphasis on SMEs and women-led businesses, aiming to give them more structured access to cross-border opportunities and financing mechanisms.
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