Nairobi, Sept. 10 -- Fragmented product standards, testing and certification are impeding a push by Kenya's factories and farms to expand exports under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), officials said, threatening to keep local goods out of regional markets.

David Beer, chief executive of TradeMark Africa, told business leaders in Nairobi that standards were becoming a critical barrier, with exports to African countries facing different verification and certification requirements in every market they enter.

"Not getting standards right is also a binary gatekeeper," he said during the two-day American Chamber of Commerce Business Summit, which closed on Thursday.

He added that the secretariat of the Accra-based AfCFTA ne...