Regional Workshop Series on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (𝗘𝗜𝗙) 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝗧𝗢) 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘺 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯, 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘰, 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘢, 𝘔𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢, 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘰

𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗘, 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗼, 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-IDB.org), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo, organized a series of workshops in the selected countries to promote and assess countries’ readiness for the implementation of various facets of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

Officially launched in 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has created the largest free trade area in the World by the number of countries participating and connects 1.3 billion people across 55 African countries.

Covering country-specific contexts in the operationalization of the AfCFTA, the workshops gathered major players and stakeholders in the public and private sectors across host countries. These stakeholders offered comments, suggestions, and remarks to create informational guides and policy documents for the development of the countries’ National Strategy for the Implementation of the AfCFTA.

In line with their individual commitments to promote trade as a tool for development in Africa, ITFC, UNECA and the EIF through these workshops provided governments, national private sector and Civil society organization (CSO) actors with the opportunity to brainstorm, co-design and collaborate on country and sector-specific roadmaps that take all concerns and resources into consideration. The success of the AfCFTA depending greatly on a collaborative approach, the integration of private sector views in the national implementation strategies is a crucial element to reach the full economic development potential of the free trade agreement.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻

The Benin edition of the workshop series took place from the 09th to the 10th October 2023 in Cotonou. The in-country workshop gathered experts, public and private institutions as well as civil society actors from 12 cities across the country. Deliberations focused on trade support and access to funding in the implementation of the AfCFTA in Benin.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗼

Designed to engage private sector actors in Burkina Faso, the Ouagadougou Workshop took place from the 11th to the 12th of May 2022. It afforded the Government and its partners the opportunity to popularize the key orientations of the national strategy for the implementation of the AfCFTA among private-sector players, and to gather their opinions and outline their responsibilities and encourage their contribution to the financing of activities within the scope of the Strategy.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮

Hosted in Mamou on the 9th and 10th September and Conakry from the 13th to the 14th September 2023, the workshops gathered stakeholders from the SME, transport, export, civil society, and investment promotion sectors to deliberate on experts’ finding and make inputs into the country’s national strategy document. The deliberations revolved around the competitiveness of local economic actors and the impact of the AfCFTA on trade and investment.

𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮

The city of Nouakchott hosted a national workshop attended by government institutions as well as representatives of the private sector. The workshop was part of the validation process of the national strategy document on the implementation of the AfCFTA.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿

The central role of private sector actors, women and young entrepreneurs, civil society, customs administration and Ministry of Trade experts, at both the central, local, and cross-border levels, have been recognized as crucial for enabling Niger to fully benefit from the enormous economic opportunities offered by the AfCFTA. It is in this context that the capacities of more than 270 stakeholders from the target stakeholders of the cities of Niamey, Dosso, Maradi, and Agadez have been strengthened on the initiatives, tools, and major instruments for implementing the AfCFTA, including, among others, rules of origin, tariff concession lists, challenges, and opportunities of the Agreement for Niger.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹

Acknowledging the crucial role of the private sector in the successful implementation of the AfCFTA, the government of Senegal gathered key stakeholders for consultations on the guidelines for the application of the provisions of the AfCFTA to the private sector. The deliberations afforded governmental stakeholders the opportunity to gather comments, suggestions, and remarks from key actors to draw up the final versions of the four Guides on the rule of origins, services trade, trade in goods and non-tariff barriers.

𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗼

With one of the largest ports in the West-African sub-region, Togo has great interest in the happenings in the continental maritime sector. That set the stage for the National Consultation Workshop gathering relevant public and private actors in the maritime sector. The stakeholders discussed the impact of the implementation of the AfCFTA on Togo’s maritime sector and the country’s readiness to take advantage of the opportunities the Agreement presents.

Mr. Amadou Cire Sall, ITFC Regional Coordinator, Trade and Business Department, commenting on the significance of the workshops, stated: “The workshops offered a platform to stakeholders to deliberate on national dynamics within the scope of the AfCFTA. The workshops also provided ITFC and other strategic partners with a clear view on how best we can support governments in the implementation of the Agreement. We are convinced the outcomes of the deliberations will shape the next stage of the implementation of the AfCFTA in host countries and ITFC remains ready to support in working towards achieving this objective.”

On his part, Mr. Mamadou Sebego, Economist at the UNECA added: “It is important for trade organizations at the regional and international level to support local actors not only for them to understand the AfCFTA and its impact on the economy but also to partake in the localization of the Agreement. The success of the AfCFTA is intrinsically tied to its ownership by all economic and trade actors in the private sector, government and civil society. These workshops were designed to facilitate that, and they achieved those goals. We remain committed to supporting all actors in the trade sector alongside our partners, ITFC and EIF.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

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𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗜𝗧𝗙𝗖):

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. It was established with the primary objective of advancing trade among OIC member countries, which would ultimately contribute to the overarching goal of improving socio-economic conditions of the people across the world. Commencing operations in January 2008, ITFC has provided US$ 75 billion of financing to OIC member countries, making it the leading provider of trade solutions for these member countries’ needs. With a mission to become a catalyst for trade development for OIC member countries and beyond, the Corporation helps entities in member countries gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the necessary trade-related capacity-building tools, which would enable them to successfully compete in the global market.

𝘚𝘖𝘜𝘙𝘊𝘌: 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘐𝘛𝘍𝘊)