The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aspires to create a single market for intra-regional trade in goods and services, representing more than 1.26 billion people, and a GDP of $2.14 trillion.
The Agreement contains trade facilitation measures, tailor-made to the African context and aimed to make import, export and transit procedures more efficient.
The AfCFTA implementation will require a great deal of coordination among different public and private stakeholders at the national and regional level, ensuring the coherence with other relevant instruments.
This session will debate on the singularity of the Trade Facilitation Provisions in the AfCFTA.
Panellist will exchange about the role of the NTFCs in the AfCFTA’s implementation and how to establish regional networks.
Finally, the session will intend to provide proposals on how the NTFCs could ensure a coherent approach in the implementation of the trade facilitation reforms in the framework of the AfCFTA, WTO TFA and other regional agreements.
Moderated by: Mr David Luke, Coordinator African Trade Policy Centre, UNECA
Speakers:
Mr Robert Lisinge, Chief, Operational Quality Section, UNECA
Mr Willie Shumba, Chief Customs Expert and Adviser, AUC
Mr Poul Hansen, Chief, Trade Facilitation Section, UNCTAD
