2023-08-13 23:11:23
Experts from Central African States, the CEMAC Commission and the ECCAS Commission endorsed the Regional Strategy for the implementation of the ZLECAf. The work was held in Libreville, from June 19 to 21, 2023, within the framework of the 4th session of the Sub-Committee on Customs and Trade Questions and the 1st session of the Sub-Committee on Economic Affairs of the Specialized Technical Committee of the Common Market , Economic, Monetary and Financial Affairs of ECCAS.
Falco Vignon
The AfCFTA Regional Strategy aims to contribute to strengthening the economic and commercial integration of Central African States, through the harmonious integration of Member States and the Community into the single African market. Its modus operandi is built on six strategic objectives. The first step will consist, in the current state of Central African markets, in aligning the commercial regulatory and operational framework of the sub-region with the content of the Agreement. The strategy gives pride of place to private sector development. It therefore reserves full and specific support for wealth creators. Indeed, to succeed in the mobilization and commitment of economic operators, their full development on trade issues is a requirement. To make the most of the ZLECAf in Central Africa, it is urgent to trigger a robust supply dynamic. It will inevitably pass through the promotion of domestic policies favorable to trade and investment. In the same vein, the strategy advises promoting the expansion of exports and the conquest of continental markets. This will require encouraging the use of information technologies, developing or integrating regional and global value chains, reactivating the common agricultural policy of ECCAS and, above all, mobilizing women and young entrepreneurs in the region to invest in value chains with identified high potential. The current level of physical integration deemed low should be corrected by accelerating and implementing infrastructure projects in the transport, communication and energy sectors.
The satisfactory implementation of the ZLECAf agreement at the sub-regional level requires specific skills. The strategy provides for capacity building of national and regional authorities responsible for trade in order to ensure careful monitoring of the execution of the terms of the agreement and the conditions for proper implementation. Successful implementation will inevitably require assistance to border actors and service sector regulators. This is to entrench the facilitation of trade, in particular the fluidity of trade flows, but also to guarantee competitiveness through related issues such as trade in services, investment, intellectual property, competition policy. The sub-region will need to deploy skillful and innovative tools such as: benchmarking, regulatory gap analysis, economic impact assessments, economic modelling, streamlining of procedures, regulatory transparency assessments and stakeholder consultations. To make the strategy pragmatic and ensure the transformation of feasible activities into activities that work, a plan for monitoring the implementation of the strategy, supported by mechanisms for mobilizing funding, will be defined.
The AfCFTA Regional Strategy is the third phase of ECA support for the implementation of this continental Agenda in Central Africa. The first level consisted, after a rigorous quantitative study, in identifying the gains and losses associated with the sub-region’s commitment to the AfCFTA. It emerged that the expected benefits in terms of earnings, growth, job creation, domestic revenue mobilization, investment promotion and technological development outweigh the losses in customs revenue in the short term. The second level was to raise awareness among all stakeholders and then to support countries in the development, adoption and implementation of AfCFTA national strategies. All the countries of the sub-region have thus ratified and deposited the AfCFTA instruments and have started implementing their national strategy in an inclusive manner. The regional segment, which defines the third stage, converges sub-regional strategies and markets towards the development of economies of scale and regional value chains.
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QA August 13, 2023
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