Ouagadougou, 01 March 2021, ECA – With technical support from the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Burkina Faso holds a technical workshop from 1 to 3 March 2021, in Ouagadougou, to review and pre-validate the draft interim national strategy.
The National Strategy for the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement of Burkina Faso, which the Ministry of Trade is developing with ECA support, strives to (i) identify opportunities for diversification in the country’s production base that take advantage of the larger African market for value-added exports; (ii) map out potential costs, risks and opportunities, (iii) determine the sectors with high competitiveness potential on the African market, (iv) formulate strategic objectives within the framework of the implementation plan, and (v) examine the regulatory framework along with its institutional capacity for implementation through a tailored strategic action plan.
The workshop comprised of top government officials in charge of trade, industry, economy, finance, agriculture, environment, youth and women, as well as non-governmental organizations, members of the private sector and academia that form part of the AfCFTA National Committee (AfCFTA-NC). The workshop provides an opportunity to further enrich the document with inputs and recommendations and enhance its legitimacy and ownership by the members of the AfCFTA NC.
Burkina Faso is one of the 36 countries that have ratified the Agreement, which has established the world's largest free trade area by number of participating countries with the potential to unite more than 1.2 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development for the continent. It has the potential to generate a range of benefits through supporting trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction. The AfCFTA represents a significant milestone towards the realization of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 for the socio-economic transformation of the continent.
The ECA has been working with the AUC and member states of the AU to deepen Africa's trade integration and effectively implement the agreement through policy advocacy, national strategy development, and implementation support. The ECA also works with the International Trade Centre (ITC), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and independent trade experts with the financial support of the European Union to assist with the implementation of the agreement.
Issued by:
Communications Section,
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
Email: eca-info@un.org