As developing countries strive to implement the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the question of funding—how to mobilise it, how to target it, and how to sustain it—remains at the heart of national conversations. This issue took centre stage during a recent WTO training programme for National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs), where experts from the World Bank and TradeMark Africa (TMA) shared pragmatic approaches to fundraising and resource mobilisation.

While the session opened with an overview of traditional funding mechanisms from William Gain, Head of the World Bank’s Trade Facilitation Support Program, a strong regional perspective came from TMA’s Director of Strategy and Partnerships, Anthe Vrijlandt, who joined participants virtually from Nairobi. TMA’s experience, she explained, reveals a clear trend: donors and countries are looking beyond one-off grants and towards smarter, more diversified, and more sustainable financing strategies.

TMA’s work across Africa is guided by six core pillars: trade policy and regulatory reform; standards and SPS measures; digital trade; physical infrastructure; green trade; and inclusive trade. These pillars translate into highly targeted interventions, from building one-stop border posts to supporting value chains such as mango or fish exports through improved SPS compliance. Vrijlandt was emphatic that establishing a digital platform is not an end in itself. “A trade portal is meaningless if customs officials don’t understand it, or if traders are not aware of their rights,” she said. For TMA, success means reducing time and cost—measured in concrete terms.¹ Independent evaluations have, for instance, shown that TMA’s programmes across the East African Community have saved traders around $110 million annually. Establishment of one stop border posts (OSBPs) have also led to average reduction in the time to cross select border by 70 percent on average.

Both speakers converged on the idea that traditional aid models are evolving, and must evolve. While donor support remains critical to delivering trade facilitation impacts around reduction in the cost and time of trade, Vrijlandt described TMA’s transition to a three-pronged approach: continued grant funding, co-financing with partner governments, and the mobilisation of commercial capital through its commercial vehicle, Trade Catalyst Africa. This shift reflects changing donor appetites, particularly when it comes to hard infrastructure. “We are no longer in the era where large-scale grants for border posts or access roads are easy to come by,” she noted. “But with the right model—where assets remain publicly owned and fees fund maintenance—there’s real appetite for investment.” An example she cited was the horticulture sector in Kenya, where exporters rely heavily on air freight to reach European markets, driving up both costs and carbon emissions. TMA is supporting a shift toward sea freight, requiring new investments in cold chains, ports, and logistics—some of which could be commercially financed.

Both presenters underscored the importance of well-crafted proposals. The World Bank’s William Gain outlined various instruments, from investment project financing to multi-country programmatic approaches, that can support NTFC efforts, particularly when proposals are tied to tangible outcomes such as reducing border wait times or digitising trade documentation. Vrijlandt echoed this sentiment, noting: “If an NTFC submits a proposal that aligns with a donor’s strategy and clearly showcases the potential to reduce trade costs, that provides a pathway to securing funding.” The goal is to move away from generic requests and instead co-create focused, scalable projects based on what has worked elsewhere.

For NTFCs grappling with the challenge of fundraising, the message from Geneva was clear: be specific, be aligned, and be impact-driven. Whether through World Bank instruments or regionally rooted organisations such as TMA, success hinges on demonstrating how trade facilitation projects will tangibly reduce costs, open markets, and build resilience.