Experts from UNCTAD, African Union Commission, Economic Commission for Africa, regional economic communities and partners gathered in Nairobi to examine key issues in drafting the agreement.
The expert meeting was convened between 2 and 6 May by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC), in cooperation with UNCTAD, and aimed at developing a draft text for the Continental Free Trade Area agreement (CFTA) that could be used as a framework for the negotiations.
The meeting included a plenary session as well as focused sub-group sessions covering trade in goods, trade in services, competition and industry. UNCTAD led the sub-group discussions on trade in services and competition, and contributed to other sub-groups' deliberations.
In his opening, the AUC representative, Mr. Babajide Sodipo, reminded experts that the CFTA agreement should be based on the Abuja Treaty, which would provide guiding principles for the CFTA. He also emphasized the need for the CFTA negotiations to be driven by AU member states and their regional economic communities (RECs), with the free trade agreements (FTAs) of the REC being used as the building blocks for the continental agreement.
Over five days, the experts deliberated different aspects of possible legal texts of the CFTA, drawing on existing legal instruments such as the Abuja Treaty and other sub-regional and regional trade agreements, and examining different legal options and policy implications.
The exercise was aimed at crafting a draft agreement that would allow AU member countries to meet the ambition set by the AU leaders on achieving continental free trade on goods and services, while recognizing the asymmetric level of integration achieved in different RECs and specific trade and development challenges facing individual African countries.
The meeting ended with the adoption of a possible draft framework text for the CFTA Agreement, including trade in goods, trade in services, industry, competition and investment, for the consideration of AU member States and key stakeholders to inform their engagement in the CFTA negotiations.
At the closing session, the AUC Deputy Chairman, Mr. Erastus Mwencha, and the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Ms. Fatima Haram Acyl, expressed their appreciation to the experts for their contribution to the drafting exercise.
UNCTAD, in cooperation with the AU Commission, ECA and other partners, will continue to support African countries and RECs in their engagement in the forthcoming phases of the CFTA negotiations, including those aimed at the development of negotiating modalities for trade in goods and services.
More on the CFTA
The CFTA offers the potential to catalyze Africa's economic transformation by boosting intra-African trade, and ultimately to put the continent in a position to trade more with the rest of the world and in a more beneficial manner.
The CFTA negotiations were launched in 2015. According to the approved timetable, the negotiations should be completed and the agreement for the CFTA signed by the end of 2017. Following the First Meeting of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) Negotiating Forum in February 2016, the second Negotiating Forum was to be held in May 2016. Given the large number of member States involved and the complexities of issues covered, the negotiating process will require significant preparatory work and coordination to achieve the agreed outcomes by the target date.
UNCTAD has supported the African Union Commission, regional economic communities and African countries in designing an effective and inclusive CFTA that can create enabling conditions for boosting intra-African trade and sustainable development.
