By the Logis-T Africa editorial team
Adopted on 15 December 2025 in New York under the auspices of the United Nations, the Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents—now referred to as the Accra Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents—marks a structural breakthrough for international trade, supply chains and logistics in Africa. By establishing a harmonised legal framework for the issuance and use of negotiable cargo documents, in both paper and electronic form, this new instrument seeks to remove one of the long-standing bottlenecks of global trade: the secure circulation of documents of title beyond maritime transport alone.
Extending negotiability across the entire logistics chain
Until now, negotiable documents of title, such as the bill of lading, were largely confined to maritime transport. The Accra Convention changes the scale of application. It introduces Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCDs)—documents of title representing goods in transit, regardless of the mode of transport: maritime, road, rail or air.
The objective is clear: to extend the benefits of negotiability across the entire African supply chain, facilitate trade finance, enable the sale of goods while in transit, promote multimodal transport and accelerate the digitalisation of trade. For African economies still constrained by heavy and fragmented documentary procedures, the stakes are particularly high.
A unified legal framework to streamline trade flows
At the core of the Convention lies a fundamental principle: the rights attached to the goods may be exercised only by the holder of the negotiable cargo document. These rights are transferred automatically with the NCD, either by endorsement and delivery or, in certain cases, by simple transfer of possession. From a legal standpoint, the transfer of an NCD has the same effect as the physical delivery of the goods themselves.
This formal recognition of the NCD as a document of title strengthens legal certainty in commercial transactions—an essential factor for African international trade and for banks involved in trade finance on the continent. The Convention also protects third parties acting in good faith, a key element in building trust across supply chains.
A catalyst for digitalisation and e-commerce in Africa
The Convention places strong emphasis on electronic negotiable cargo documents (eNCDs). Drawing on UNCITRAL’s work on electronic transferable records, it establishes detailed rules to ensure legal equivalence between paper-based and electronic documents.
For players in logistics and transport in Africa, this represents a decisive step towards fully digital documentary chains—faster, more secure and more reliable. It also facilitates customs clearance, reduces operational delays and supports the growth of cross-border e-commerce, which is still hampered in many African markets by administrative and legal constraints.
Party autonomy at the heart of adoption
Another key feature of the Convention is its reliance on party autonomy. An NCD may be issued only where this is agreed between the transport operator and the consignor. The text provides for two practical approaches: converting an existing transport document into an NCD, or issuing a stand-alone NCD where no transport document exists or where it has been cancelled.
Clear content requirements are set out to ensure the validity of the document, while flexible solutions are предусмотрed to address missing information—an important consideration in African markets, where documentary practices remain uneven.
Complementary to existing transport law regimes
The Accra Convention does not alter the liability regimes governing carriers under existing international transport law instruments, such as the Hamburg Rules or the Rotterdam Rules. Instead, it focuses exclusively on the issuance and use of negotiable cargo documents, complementing existing legal frameworks rather than replacing them.
This careful articulation is essential to reassure operators in the African logistics market, who often face overlapping national and international regulations.
A strategic instrument for Africa
For Africa—where logistics costs remain among the highest in the world—the Accra Convention represents far more than a legal text. It is a strategic instrument to modernise trade practices, strengthen regional integration, facilitate intra-African trade and enhance the continent’s attractiveness to international investors and financiers.
Provided that African states move swiftly to adopt and implement the Convention within their national legal systems, negotiable cargo documents could become a powerful accelerator of the African supply chain, supporting more fluid, digital and competitive trade across the continent.
Official Signing Ceremony in Accra in 2026
By adopting the Convention, the United Nations General Assembly authorized the organization of an official signing ceremony in the second half of 2026 in Accra, Ghana. On this occasion, the Convention will be open for signature by States and regional economic integration organizations.
The Assembly also called on governments wishing to modernize their legal frameworks related to negotiable transport documents to consider acceding to the Convention. This timeline and political appeal enhance the strategic significance of the text, particularly for African countries engaged in modernizing their legal frameworks for logistics, multimodal transport, and international trade, in the context of implementing the AfCFTA and digitizing supply chains.
