About the Project

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is leading the implementation of a project funded by the European Commission (EC) that is aimed at strengthening economic integration in Africa by deepening trade integration within and beyond the continent, through an effective implementation of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The project is implemented in close collaboration with regional, continental and international partners including the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the African Union Commission (AUC), the International Trade Center (ITC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), amongst others.  

The project is built on three pillars:

Advocating for AfCFTA ratificationDeveloping national AfCFTA implementation strategiesDeveloping a methodological framework to produce an AfCFTA Country Business Index (ACBI)

Advocating for AfCFTA ratification

For the AfCFTA to come into force, 22 ratifications by member States of the African Union (AU) were required.  In order to ensure that the critical number of ratifications is reached in 2019, there was a need to develop and deploy concerted advocacy and consensus-building interventions among AU member States.

To this end, on a demand basis, high level consultations and policy advocacy were undertaken or planned in the following countries:

East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania, Uganda

West Africa: Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire

North Africa: Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania, Morocco 

Southern Africa: Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia

Central Africa: Chad, Cameroon, Sao Tome, DR Congo, Republic of Congo

HOW?

  • Advocacy missions for political level engagement
  • Support to governments to organize AfCFTA national forums
  • Preparation of AfCFTA impact studies
  • Publication of the African Regional Integration Index ARII 2018 report

Developing national AfCFTA implementation strategies

An effective implementation of the AfCFTA requires countries to have clear plans and strategies to fully harness the benefits of the Agreement. 

Under the scope of this project and on a demand basis, ECA is working with various partners to support over 15 countries develop National AfCFTA Strategies:

  • Cameroon
  • Chad
  • Djibouti
  • Egypt
  • Ethiopia
  • Guinea
  • Kenya
  • Mauritania
  • Namibia
  • Niger
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • Sudan
  • The Gambia
  • Togo
  • Zimbabwe

HOW?

  • Development of a methodology for the national AfCFTA strategies
  • National and regional diagnostic reviews
  • Case studies / sectoral assessment / identification of export opportunities
  • Drafting the AfCFTA national strategies
  • Organizing national stakeholder consultations
  • Advisory missions in beneficiary countries
  • Capacity-building activities:
    • workshop on trade modeling
    • workshop on trade, gender and development
    • AfCFTA Media Hub workshop for media practitioners

Developing a methodology to produce an AfCFTA Country Business Index (ACBI)

Businesses currently face many constraints including high trade costs, divergent regulatory frameworks and governance issues that undermine their effective operations on the African continent. These bottlenecks are expected to be addressed by an effective implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement. Developed by ECA and its partners, the proposed ACBI is a robust tool designed for measuring and monitoring businesses’ experience with AfCFTA implementation at the country level.