AfCFTA Secretariat inaugurates advisory council on trade, industrial development

AfCFTA Advisory Council

AfCFTA Advisory Council

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has announced the inauguration of a 14-member AfCFTA Trade and Industrial Development Advisory Council, which will provide advice on trade integration and transformative industrialization as part of efforts towards the implementation of the AfCFTA.

By Muhammad Usman

Members of the advisory council, which was endorsed by the recent Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in February 2022, comprises African experts on trade, industrial development, agricultural development and economic development, drawn from the academia, international development and governments of member states of the African Union.

A press statement by the AfCFTA Secretariat said one of the key mandates of the AfCFTA agreement was the promotion of industrial development through economic diversification, regional value chain development as well as agricultural development. “This is imperative given the low levels of investments in industrial production, which is also a major contributor to the low percentage of intra-African trade. Africa has 17% of the global population and fastest-growing middle class but only accounts for 2.1% of global trade and 3% of the world’s GDP.”

Members of the council include Dr Arkebe Oqubay, a senior minister cum special adviser to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia; Dr Rob Davies; a former South African minister of trade and industry; Professor Carlos Lopes of the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town cum former executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA); as well as Dr Celestin Monga, a visiting professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government cum former chief economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Also to serve on the council are Dr. Stephen Karingi, director of ECA’s regional integration and trade division; Ambassador Magda Shahin; director of the Prince Alwaleed American Studies Centre at the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) of the American University in Cairo; Professor Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, special advisor to AfDB’s president on industrialization; as well as Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu, special adviser to the Nigerian President on economic matters, among others.

In a related development, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had earlier in the week deposited its instruments of ratification for the AfCFTA making it the 42nd AU member state do so, following Cape Verde which ratified the agreement in early February.