Ahead of the Inception: Of Commerce under the New African Continental Free Trade Area, a Contemporary Trade Intelligence Tool to promote Companies to Sift and Correlate Chances Across Africa has been disclosed

By Abdul Rahman Bangura– 

NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone-  A unique trade intelligence mechanism that facilitates corporations to effortlessly dig through and describe in relation trade alternatives across Africa has been published before the advent of trading under the new African Continental Free Trade Area.

The African Trade Observatory was rolled out by the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) Commission and the International Trade Centre (ITC) at an AU summit on December 5th, 2020. ‘Trade information is vital to the promotion of trade in Africa,’ AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, H.E. Amb. Albert Muchanga asserted.

The AfCFTA decreases trade impediments and strengthen regional economic integration. Trading under the continent-wide area is set to commence on January 1st, 2021. ‘Economic Integration is close to the heart of the European Union and will continue to support the African Union towards its endeavor of the African Common Market,’ European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships H.E. Jutta Uripilainen noted.

Therefore, the African Trade Observatory is particularly important for entrusting the economic operators during this COVID-19 pandemic, ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton stated. ‘Today, we are putting an entire continent of trade intelligence at the fingertips of African entrepreneurs, especially to support small local firms, women and young people in making the most of new opportunities’. The preliminary volume of the web platform, presently accessible in French and English, was published during the 13th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the AfCFTA. The Arabic and Portuguese interpretations will be attainable in the imminent outlook.

Heeding the delivery of two publicly applicable modules (Compare and Explore), policy makers and Regional Economic Communities will have a permit to a third Monitor module. This module will give a latitude of real-time pointers on trade flows, utilization of AfCFTA tariff preferences, tax revenues, clearance time and trade simulations, thereby promoting the tryout of the enactment procedure and impact of the AfCFTA.

The African Union Assembly Decision/AU/Dec.394 (XVIII) is to ascertain an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and to uphold the Boosting Intra-Africa Trade (BIAT) Action Plan that was approved on January 18th, 2012. One of the Policy Clusters of the BIAT Action Plan is Trade Information. In upswing, the Architecture of the AfCFTA has envisaged in the Decision includes, among others, the constitution of the African Union Trade Observatory (ATO), to be fixed within the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the AU Commission (AUC). The ATO comprises one of the five operational instruments of the AfCFTA inaugurated during the 12th Extra-Ordinary African Union Summit, held in July 2019, Niamey Niger. The fundamental priority of the ATO is to empower market espionage to the Pan-African Business Community, Policy makers, Academia and Think Tanks. It will contribute real-time data on international  trade, information on market legislation and government statutes. The ATO project is overseen by the African Union (AU), carried out with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and supported by the European Union (EU).

The African Union Commission (AUC) is the African Union’s Secretariat and undertakes the day to day workouts of the Union. It is established in Addis Ababa – Ethiopia. Its purposes include: Representing the AU and protecting its revenues under the advice of and as mandated by the Assembly and the Executive Council. African Union Commission Department of Trade and Industry’s core statute is to assist the AU in Boosting Intra-African Trade, fast track establishment and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and to guarantee Africa’s competitiveness in the worldwide economy.

For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent

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