Status of AfCFTA national Implementation strategies

Print

During the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development held in Addis Ababa in May 2018, the African Union member States have been urged to prepare national strategies and implementation plans to identify opportunities, constraints and actions related to the AfCFTA implementation, including key objectives for increasing trade performance, country priority sectors, and opportunities for regional and global value chain integration.

To guide the AU member States in the development of such strategies, the African Union Commission, in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), has developed specific guidelines (read more here).

However, most African States are late in developing these strategies, and also those who have adopted them, in many cases have not made them publicly available. Some Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa are also developing such strategies at regional level, like the East African Community (EAC) and COMESA. The latter organisation launched in January 2022 a Request for Proposals (RFP) to recruit a consultant for the development of an AfCFTA regional implementation strategy.

After Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon, also Nigeria has made its AfCFTA implementation strategy public, developed with the support of UKaid.