This paper presents the first systematic, high-frequency evidence on how Anglo-African merchandise and services exports adjusted
during the transitory phase of Brexit (January 2017–December 2020). Merging UN-Comtrade, IMF DOTS and f.o.b. shipping‐scanner
data for 19 African economies that trade preferentially with the United Kingdom, we identify three stylised facts. (i) Aggregate
Anglo-African export growth decelerated from 7.1 % y-o-y in 2016 to 2.3 % in 2019, but the timing and depth of the slowdown varied
by rule-of-origin intensity and logistics connectivity. (ii) At the product level, a 10-percentage-point increase in EU-27 value-added
content in an African good raised the probability of a post-referendum export entry drop by 3.8 %, suggesting that Rules of Origin
uncertainty outweighed sterling depreciation. (iii) Service exports—particularly business-process outsourcing and creative

industries—displayed partial insulation, benefiting from reduced UK–EU labour mobility and a re-shoring of tasks to lower-cost
African suppliers. Difference-in-differences estimates exploiting the staggered activation of Technical Barriers to Trade notifications
show that sectors facing higher UK-specific standards experienced a 6–9 % cumulative loss in export value relative to those already
aligned with EU norms. Overall, our findings indicate that the Brexit transition eroded, but did not sever, Anglo-African trade
linkages, with heterogenous effects mediated by supply-chain complexity, preferential‐margin erosion and digital delivery capacity.
The paper concludes by outlining policy scenarios for the post-TCA period.