Prudence Sebahizi, Director of Institutional Matters and Programmes Coordination at the Accra-based AfCFTA
Prudence Sebahizi (P.S.), Director of Institutional Matters and Programmes Coordination at the Accra-based AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) Secretariat, explains that this institution, which is beneficial to Africa, is hosting six meetings over ten days in Kigali, Rwanda, from 09 to 17 October 2023, to speed up intra-African trade through implementation of the AfCFTA. Read his exclusive interview with André Gakwaya of Rwanda News Agency (RNA).
RNA- What are the six themes of the AfCFTA discussed in six meetings over ten days in Kigali?
P.S. – This week we have convened six meetings on the AfCFTA. We began on Monday 09 October with the meeting of experts on the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund. There are two parallel meetings on Digital Trade and Dispute Settlement. Then, over the course of the week, there will be three other meetings. There is the meeting on AfCFTA implementation review, the meeting of the Committee on Trade in Goods and the meeting of Senior Trade Officials.
RNA- How many participants?
P.S. – There are more than 200 participants. Each AfCFTA member country must send at least one delegate to represent it at each meeting. There are also representatives of the RECs (Regional Economic Communities) and partners that we invite, such as AFREXIMBANK, the ADB and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). These are our strategic partners. All in all, we have between 200 and 300 participants.
RNA- What is the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund?
P.S. – There is an AfCFTA Adjustment Fund based here in Kigali. The AfCFTA Adjustment Fund is managed by (FEDA) which is an AfreximBank export promotion fund. The purpose of this meeting of experts from AU member states is to review the results of the study we carried out on countries’ potential revenue losses following trade liberalisation, which will be presented to the experts to see how much revenue countries, are expected to lose. The mission of the Fund that has been set up is to support countries that are going to lose customs revenue as a result of tariff liberalisation while implementing AfCFTA Agreement.
RNA- Where did this fund come from?
P.S. – Three sources:
1) A credit fund: Investors, international organisations and banks will invest in this fund because it will be lucrative. You invest and then the countries will borrow from this Fund to finance development projects.
2) A general fund: funds received from public and private individuals, and entities and offers of concessional financing and other loans. Donors will provide us with free financing, and then the fund will be allocated to countries according to criteria that have already been established.
3) The Base Fund through the contribution of State Parties and currently Afreximbank has put in a billion dollars to compensate directly for the loss of revenue. Therefore, if a country can prove that it has already lost five hundred (500) million dollars, the basic fund will compensate this loss of revenue directly in monetary terms. Eligibility for receiving funds under any of the components shall be based on application outlining tariff loss due to restructuring of sectors. Technical assistance and capacity building towards the restructuring will also benefit from the funds.
RNA- Digital Trade?
P.S. – Digital trade: this is another meeting of the committee responsible for negotiating the protocol on digital trade in the AfCFTA. The purpose of this week’s meeting is to conclude the negotiations on this protocol so that it can be presented to the ministers at their twelfth meeting, to be held in South Africa on 05 November 2023.
RNA- Will this Digital Trade work?
P.S.- Today, with the rise of the Internet and mobile phones, most commercial transactions and payments are made via mobile phones. We even have the impression that those who have access to the Internet are going to use websites to buy goods or sell goods for those in business. The purpose of this protocol is to regulate these transactions that are already taking place, to put in place common regulations at continental level for these transactions, and also to protect us against the risks of cybercrime and to facilitate business.
RNA- Are measures in place to counter cybercrime?
P.S. – Yes. The measures are in place. We have no digital data centres in Africa. All our digital data is stored outside Africa. Thanks to the protocol, we are going to set up digital data centres in Africa that will be protected by our governments. And this digital data will also be controlled at continental level. Most cybercrime attacks occur because our data is managed by organisations outside the continent.
RNA- What about dispute resolution?
P.S. – Dispute settlement is part of the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA. It is like a court for the AfCFTA. It is an organ of the AfCFTA, whose members normally meet to set up working methods, and to prepare to decide at the appropriate time if there is a question of disputes in the implementation of the AfCFTA. At present, there are no disputes, but this body needs to get ready. We have two bodies in this organisation:
1. The Dispute Settlement Body is currently meeting.
2. The Appellate Body: i.e. if the Dispute Settlement Body has not settled the case, the dispute will be referred to the Appellate Body. But this time, we are in a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body.
RNA- There will be three more meetings here in Kigali.
P.S. – The Agreement provides for a review of the policies and implementation of the AfCFTA. To ensure that the legal provisions of the Agreement are respected by the countries, a monitoring mechanism must be put in place. To put this in place, we created the mechanism for periodic review of the implementation of the AfCFTA. For example, how many countries have ratified the AfCFTA? How many have not yet ratified, and why? If countries have committed themselves to liberalising trade for ten years, at this point in time we might ask how many countries have already done so? What progress has been made? Are some countries lagging behind others, and why? This is why we have this review mechanism. It is a mechanism that is now in place. Then, following this mechanism, we will be able to identify requests for capacity building. There are countries that have not yet implemented the Agreement because they do not have adequate capacity. Therefore, it is this review mechanism that will enable us to identify whether there are any capacity-building needs.
RNA- The Committee on Trade in Goods?
P.S. – Yes. The Protocol on Trade in Goods has many annexes. There are already nine annexes to the Protocol. The Committee on Trade in Goods is an institution that has been set up to monitor what is happening in these annexes. Therefore, the committee is there to monitor what is happening in these annexes. Therefore, the committee is there to look at issues such as rules of origin, to see what has been done, to see which countries have already completed the list of liberalisation of trade in goods. They will look at all the issues of non-tariff barriers, standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures. So there is a whole series of issues that are dealt with in trade in goods that need to be reviewed by the Committee on Trade in Goods.
RNA- Finally, there is the meeting of senior AfCFTA officials.
P.S. – The AfCFTA Senior Officials meeting is a committee that receives reports from all the other technical committees. Because the senior officials are like Permanent Secretaries (PS). They receive the reports of all the experts’ meetings, and then it is they who report to the ministers. So this meeting will receive reports from all the committees I mentioned, they will receive reports from the Committee on Digital Trade, the Committee on Trade in Goods, the Dispute Settlement Body, the meeting of experts on the Adjustment Fund, and then they will also examine the two protocols that have already been negotiated: The Protocol on Youth and Women in Trade and the Protocol on Digital Trade. These two protocols will be examined by the senior officials for the first time here in Kigali and we hope that after this consideration, the senior officials will also submit these two protocols to the ministers in November. The ministers will then examine them and submit them to the Heads of State in February next year.
RNA- All these PS come from trade ministries?
P.S. – Some ministers have already appointed DGs. Others have appointed PSs. So it goes without saying. Some are DGs and others are PSs. So this is a meeting of the PSs.
RNA- How many AfCFTA staff are currently in Accra?
P.S. – We have two categories of staff. There are the permanent staff. Just over fifty (50). Then there are the support staff, the consultants, who number around 70, and in detail we have 120 staff at the moment. AfCFTA structure calls for us to have 296.
RNA- The six workshops in Kigali will run from 09 to 17 October. What results do you hope to achieve?
P.S. – The two Protocols I mentioned: the Protocol on digital trade within AfCFTA, which has been negotiated over the past two years. It is hoped that the technical negotiations will be concluded during this meeting. And the protocol will be ready for presentation to the ministers. The second expected outcome is the Protocol on Youth and Women in Trade. This Protocol has already been negotiated by the committee in charge, and this is the first time that the Protocol will be examined by senior officials, and we hope that this is the last stage before the Protocol is presented to the ministers. So if these two Protocols have already been agreed to be presented to the ministers, that’s a great achievement. And then there are other issues that have already been dealt with in the case of the dispute settlement body. The Heads of State have already appointed the seven members of the appeals body. In February, the Heads of State already appointed the five. The terms of reference of the five must now be finalised by the body, and then the other two missing candidates must be submitted to the Heads of State for appointment. In other words, the Dispute Settlement Body is in the process of being set up and organised, in order to put in place, the terms of reference and the rules of procedure. Then the very staff we need.
RNA – The AfCFTA must be budget demanding. Who finances the participants’ stay, plane tickets, etc.?
P.S. – We do. For our meetings to be valid, we need to reach a quorum. The quorum means that more than two thirds of the representatives of the Member States must be present for the results of the meeting to be valid. So, if we don’t fund participation, some countries won’t be able to attend for lack of funds. So we are making sure that there is no such excuse (End)