Addis Ababa — The 10th Session of the Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration (CRCI) ended in Addis Ababa Thursday night with participants adopting recommendations that will go a long way in assisting member States in adopting and implementing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).
The meeting, held under the theme; "Implementation of the continental free trade area and shared gains", generated a lot of interest from member States with debate going well into the night as they discussed how countries will benefit from the CFTA.
The main objective of the meeting was to examine efforts being made to fast track the implementation of the Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade and an agreement to establish a Continental Free Trade Area.
"We are happy that member States showed full support for the adoption and implementation of the CFTA," Stephen Karingi, Acting Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said at the end of the meeting.
"This meeting was special because it gave much attention to the CFTA, which will make a huge difference in Africa's development once adopted. It showed member States how to better implement the CFTA with due linkages to agriculture, infrastructure, energy, food security, investment, regional integration and land."
Outcome
The ECA, in cooperation with the African Union Commission, participants agreed, should take a leading role in monitoring the implementation of the various components of the agreement to establish the CFTA.
Member States were encouraged to enhance the implementation of the Boosting Intra-African Trade Action Plan while the AUC and its partners were asked to track progress made in that regard and provide technical assistance for the implementation.
Countries were encouraged to involve the private sector in the process of establishing the CFTA to ensure that the design of the agreement addresses their priorities and concerns, particularly with regards to the rules of origin.
Among some of the recommendations, member States and regional economic communities (RECs) were encouraged to adopt sound monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure the effective implementation of regional integration commitments.
ECA, AUC and the African Development Bank (AfDB) were urged to increase their investment in generating and collecting data on trade and regional integration.
The ECA was tasked to collect and compile data based on intra-African investments; undertake a review study to identify financial challenges faced by African countries, such as those related to infrastructure and industrial projects; undertake a study on promoting regional value chains for some commodities with a view to examine key barriers and embark on another study on regional integration issues and opportunities for landlocked countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Africa.
Land
Under progress on land policy formulation and implementation in Africa, participants agreed that the ECA and the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), should collaborate with member States to advance regional integration by promoting harmonization and convergence of land policies in relevant protocols and programmes of the RECs and by integrating land policies in regional agricultural investment plans and national agricultural investment plans.
The ECA was asked to build its institutional capacity in support of land governance by institutionalizing the recently launched ALPC in a manner that ensures financial stability, operational efficiency and strong ownership in accordance with a 2015 decision of the same meeting.
And in line with a recent African Union decision, ECA and the ALPC were called upon to apply the recommendations of a recent study on land, ethnicity and conflict to develop guidelines for member States to use to mitigate land-based and ethnic-based conflicts.
Food Security
To improve food security in Africa, member States were encouraged to empower small-scale farmers by making them more commercially oriented through the adoption of farming models that fit with the specificities of small-scale production in Africa.
Member States were also urged to promote regional agricultural value chains through improving transboundary infrastructure and transportation, harmonization of standards, and enhancing the productive capacity of agriculture and agribusiness, including agro-industry; and to integrate national food reserves into regional food reserves to better adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.
Recommendations were also made on inclusive infrastructure development, which is the key to promoting Africa's industrialization and how to boost intra-African investment.
Trade policy experts, ministers, academia, partner organizations such as the African Union Commission, African Development Bank, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and representatives of UN agencies attended the meeting.
