Consultancy to Develop National Strategies for the Implementation of the African Continental Fre ...

1. Background The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March 2018 is a key milestone in Africa’s integration Agenda.The scope of the AfCFTA covers trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, competition policy and possibly e-commerce. This wide scope moves the Agreement beyond the requirements of a traditional free trade area. The implementation of the AfCFTA will certainly involve adjustments in countries to overcome potential challenges and seize the opportunities offered by integrated markets. Given the significant diversity in the economic configuration of African countries, they will be affected in different ways by the AfCFTA. The benefits of the Agreement, once in force, will not come overnight. Countries would need to identify where their comparative advantages lie for diversification and value chains (for both goods and services) development. Countries would also need to identify means to deal with costs adjustment including any adverse fiscal impact that could result from the Agreement’s implementation. These certainly entail for African countries to develop national AfCFTA tailored strategies that are aligned with existing policy frameworks at national, regional and continental levels. The AfCFTA National Strategies will complement the broader trade policy of each State Party to the Agreement and identify opportunities, gaps and steps required for it to take full advantage of continental and global markets while optimizing the AfCFTA induced opportunities. It is in this context that the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) solicits to recruit a consulting firm to support African countries develop AfCFTA National Strategies. 2. Objective of the consultancy The objective of the consultancy is to support African countries develop AfCFTA National Strategy. The Strategy will complement the target country’s broader trade policy and identify key trade opportunities, current constraints and steps required for it to take full advantage of national, regional and global markets in the AfCFTA context. The Strategy will be aligned with regional and continental policy frameworks. Furthermore, the national strategies must account for a number of cross cutting issues including human rights, gender equality, children, adolescents, migration, environmental and climate change as well as technologies. All these elements must be complemented by an effective monitoring and evaluation frameworks and financial resources mobilization plans to implement priority actions of the Strategy. 3. Scope of the assignment Specific tasks in developing the AfCFTA national strategies for a target country will include, but are not limited to: a) Undertake scoping missions to engage all stakeholders through individual or group consultations and lay the ground for the preparation of the AfCFTA strategies; b) Organize stakeholders’ national forum on AfCFTA where countries issues will be discussed; c) Develop a draft AfCFTA national strategies based on guidance from the national forum and informed by national and regional diagnostic reviews, sectoral assessments and case studies. d) Develop a clear Strategic Action Plan including sectoral actions plans with responsibilities and roles of each entity at sub-national, national, regional, continental and international levels clearly identified;