Overview

The Africa Sovereign Carbon Registry Foundation (ASCRF) was established to provide a common governance and technical framework for African countries choosing to introduce national carbon pricing on shipping and aviation. Its model is based on the "Polluter Pays" principle: a fixed carbon contribution is levied on the share of a vessel's emissions attributed to the port country, with revenues directed to national environmental and energy transition programmes.

Djibouti and Gabon have implemented this model. A significant number of additional African countries are in active discussion with the ASCRF about joining. While no start dates have been confirmed for any of the countries listed below, the ASCRF publicly identifies them as having ongoing discussions about implementing their own Sovereign Carbon Registry.

Countries currently listed by the ASCRF as having discussions underway include: Cameroon, Tanzania, Guinea, Ghana, Angola, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Togo, Namibia, Morocco, Kenya, Senegal, Benin, Congo, Madagascar and Mauritius. Liberia is listed by ASCRF as active in 2026, but the Liberian government has publicly denied plans to impose a carbon levy on international vessels calling at Liberian ports.

Scope

How the model works in active schemes

‍Under the Djibouti and Gabon frameworks, the most likely template for any new country joining, the scheme applies to qualifying vessel movements to or from the country's ports. The country attributes 50% of the total carbon footprint of the movement between its port and the previous or next port of call to itself. That attributed share is then subject to a fixed carbon contribution. Based on the active scheme model, coverage is expressed in tCO₂e, incorporating CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O on a tank-to-wake basis, using emission factors derived from the GLEC Framework.

What this means for routes through Africa

‍Many of the countries under discussion are significant maritime hubs or sit on major shipping routes. Countries such as Morocco (Tanger Med is one of the world's largest transshipment hubs), Kenya (Mombasa), Senegal (Dakar), Côte d'Ivoire (Abidjan), Ghana (Tema), and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) handle substantial volumes of international shipping traffic. If even a subset of these countries implement the model, the commercial impact across West, East and North African trade lanes would be meaningful.

Start date

No start dates have been confirmed for any country currently under discussion. The pace of implementation has varied: Djibouti introduced reporting obligations in 2023 and mandatory carbon contributions from January 2025; Gabon moved from registry launch (February 2025) to mandatory contributions within approximately four months (June 2025).

New countries joining the framework could potentially follow a similar timeline, meaning discussions that are active today could translate into compliance obligations within 12 to 18 months of a formal decision.

Responsibility

Under the active scheme model, the shipping agent is the responsible party for reporting and payment obligations, acting as the ship's legal representative. The economic burden may still be passed through contractually between owner, operator, charterer or cargo interests, but the registry's compliance interface is the agent.

This structure is expected to be replicated in any new country joining the ASCRF framework, though each country retains full sovereignty over the definition of obligated entities and sectors.

Cost Impact

No carbon price has been confirmed for any country under discussion. The active schemes (Djibouti and Gabon) both apply a fixed rate of USD 17 per tCO₂e, with caps per vessel movement (USD 7,500 for Djibouti; USD 15,000 for Gabon).

Notably, the ASCRF has pointed out that these rates are significantly below the EU ETS equivalent (approximately USD 65–80/tCO₂e in 2025), and that countries such as Egypt, Morocco and South Africa could, at EU-equivalent rates, generate over USD 1 billion per year in carbon contribution revenues. This suggests that the USD 17/t rate, while currently consistent across active schemes, is not necessarily fixed for future adopters.

For commercial planning purposes, the practical implication is straightforward: port calls in these countries may carry an additional carbon cost, the size of which will depend on the vessel's fuel consumption, voyage distance, and the rate each country eventually sets.

Compliance mechanism

No compliance mechanism has been formally established for any country currently under discussion. Based on the active scheme model, the expected process would involve:

1. Movement reporting: the shipping agent reports the vessel movement, voyage distance, vessel type and size metrics (TEU, DWT or GT depending on vessel type)
2. Carbon footprint calculation: based either on actual fuel consumption (with supporting logbook evidence) or default emission factors by vessel type
3. Invoicing and payment: the registry issues an invoice; payment triggers issuance of a Payment Certificate confirming compliance

Reporting cycles in active schemes are monthly, with payment due within 30 days of invoicing.

Commercial and operational implications

The expansion of African Sovereign Carbon Initiatives represents a structural shift in how emissions costs are distributed across the global shipping network, not only in Europe (EU ETS, FuelEU, UK ETS) or at the IMO level, but increasingly at the level of individual port states across Africa.

For charterers, owners and operators active on African trade lanes, the key commercial implications are:

• Monitor, don't wait. Discussions can move to implementation faster than the legislative timelines associated with EU or IMO regulation. The Gabon scheme went from announced to mandatory in under six months.
• Know your routes. The 50% attribution model means that vessels calling at multiple African ports could accumulate carbon contribution obligations across several jurisdictions. Understanding which ports and routes are in scope, and modelling the cost, is the first step to managing exposure.
• Contract clarity matters. As with EU ETS, the shipping agent is the compliance interface.....???  but not necessarily the economic burden-bearer. Charter parties should address how sovereign carbon contribution costs are allocated between parties, particularly for voyage and time charters involving African port calls.
• Track the rate. The USD 17/tCO₂e rate applied in Djibouti and Gabon is well below EU ETS levels. New country participating may adopt the same rate, a higher rate, or a rate linked to future IMO pricing levels. The commercial exposure per voyage will vary accordingly.

Siglar Carbon monitors regulatory developments across all African Sovereign Carbon Initiatives.