Addis Ababa, 17 February 2020 (ECA) - The Fifth Steering Committee Meeting (SCM) of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) under its third 2016-2020 programme cycle will be hosted by the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania from 19 to 20 February 2020.
The Steering Committee is central to ATPC’s governance structure. The meeting is chaired by the African Union Commission (AUC) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) serves as the Vice Chair. Other Committee members include ECA Sub Regional Offices (SROs-ECA), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), collaborating institutions, development partners, private sector, civil society and academia.
The first day of the meeting will review ATPC program results and financial reports for 2019, and take stock of the evaluation of Phase I of the European Union (EU) Project on “Deepening Africa’s Trade Integration through Effective Implementation of the AfCFTA”, which successfully concluded in December 2019, and is to be followed by a new and even more ambitious second phase.
The main highlights of the second day of the meeting include presentations on ATPC’s 2020 work programme and budget, along with two special sessions which will introduce (1) ATPC’s new industrialization cluster which is focused on upgrading and transforming Africa’s trade and regional value chains, and (2) future collaborative work with the EAC, the hosts of the SCM. The meeting will wrap up with a presentation of the envisaged collaboration with Global Affairs Canada under the upcoming 4th cycle of programme support for the period 2021-2025.
In anticipation of the meeting, Mr. David Luke, Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre commented: “In terms of program results, 2019 was a good year for ATPC. We look forward to a robust discussion of our results and guidance from the Steering Committee on our program priorities for 2020.”
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org