AfCFTA implementation strategies must be available to businesses!

AfCFTA implementation strategies are policy documents that define strategies for expediting the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement and identify risks and opportunities arising from such implementation. They are based on a decision adopted on 15 May 2018 by the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, which urged the African Union member States to prepare such documents “to identify the key trade opportunities, current constraints and steps required to take full advantage of the African market", including modalities for increasing trade performance, map country priority sectors, and identify opportunities for regional and global value chain integration. In practice, they are policy documents that set out a roadmap, with an associated implementation plan, to address the main constraints, challenges and gaps needed to seize the opportunities offered by the AfCFTA in the various African nations and exploit the full potential of the agreement. In addition to national states, such strategies have been adopted also by some Regional Economic Communities (RECs), like IGAD, EAC and ECOWAS, while the SADC one is under development.

The United Nation Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in collaboration with the African Union Commission, has issued in 2021 specific ‘Guidelines for Developing AfCFTA Strategies’ with the aim of providing a common framework for their preparation, so to harmonize the criteria for their elaboration. The guidelines recommend to include in these strategies an analysis of the State Party’s macroeconomic environment, with production and trade performance; a description of key opportunities and priority sectors for production and trade; constraints and potential implementation risks to overcome; proposed strategic actions to address potential obstacles, with a related action plan, a monitoring and evaluation framework and a communication plan.

In 2024, UNECA also published the AfCFTA implementation strategies synthesis report, a document (currently being updated), thatprovides a snapshot of the experiences of African states that have adopted them so far and main challenges in their development, with the lesson learned.

In 2024, another project was launched by UNECA with a funding from the Danish Cooperation Agency (DANIDA) to support some selected AfCFTA States Parties in the development of specific supplements to their AfCFTA national strategies aimed at identifying products and services with the highest potential for integration or for the development of regional value chains. These supplements take the form of separated annexes to be attached to the already adopted AfCFTA national strategies. They analyze the products or services where such States have a comparative and competitive advantage and where there is a potential for scalability or for export to regional and continental markets. An example is Kenya, which is currently developing a “green” supplement focusing on the tea and coffee sectors.

The idea of ​​having implementation strategies to guide AfCFTA States Parties in implementing the agreement certainly has merit. To date, most of African States have adopted such documents, with some notable exceptions like South Africa or Madagascar. But these tools are of little use if they are not made public. The private sector, in particular, would benefit greatly from knowing which products and services have been prioritized under these strategies because they are deemed to have the greatest opportunities for intra-continental trade or for integration in regional value chains. They can provide important information on the continental markets where the demand of these products and services is higher, and on the strategies to position them appropriately on such markets.

Unfortunately -  and inexplicably - only a few African states have published them (same for the RECs that adopted them). Some are available on the websites of the Ministries of Trade. Other they have been published on other web platforms where they are not easily accessible. Apparently, in no case have these strategies been made available on trade information portals (TIPs), where it would be more logical for them to placed. Which raises the question of whether these policy tools are really useful in guiding the implementation of the AfCFTA. But even better, it would be appropriate to make these strategies available on a single platform, as the advantages would be multiple:

• Enhanced transparency and information sharing: A central platform would make it easier for businesses, policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders to access and understand the specific implementation approaches adopted by different African countries. This transparency can foster trust and encourage greater participation in the AfCFTA.
• Identification of complementary strategies: By comparing strategies, African companies could identify potential synergies and areas of collaboration across African countries, which could reveal opportunities for developing regional value chains, where different stages of production occur in different African countries based on their comparative advantages. For example, if one country has largely invested in a specific sector that another country is targeting for import substitution, this may represent a significant business opportunity for a company interested in further developing its business across borders.
• Understanding diverse regulatory environments: Cross-analysis would reveal the varying regulatory landscapes, standards, and procedures across different African markets. This information is crucial for businesses looking to expand and navigate these complexities.
• Pinpointing specific trade opportunities: By understanding the priority sectors and expansion plans of each country, businesses can more accurately identify specific export and import opportunities.
• Learning from best practices and avoiding pitfalls: Countries that are further along in their implementation can share lessons learned, best practices, and challenges encountered with others. This peer-learning can accelerate effective implementation of the AfCFTA across the continent.

At the moment, the only strategies that we have retrieved online are the following, but others could be "hidden" on other websites:

1. 1. Burundi (only a summary with the main findings of the strategy is available)
   2. Cote d'Ivoire
   3. Cameroon
   4. Congo-Brazzaville
   5. Comoros
   6. Ghana
   7. Kenya: only a policy brief summarizing the main contents of the strategy is available, while the strategy itself is not online
   8. Eswatini
   9. Malawi
   10. Mauritius
   11. Namibia
   12. Niger
   13. Nigeria
   14. Seychelles
   15. Zambia