Events

Press release N° 357/2014

The African Union Commission signs Joint Programming Arrangement with Development Partners

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 10 December 2014 - The African Union Commission (AUC) yesterday signed a Joint Programming Arrangement (JPA) to support the AUC Trade and Industry Program led by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under Pillar III "Integration, Cooperation and Partnerships" with Development Partners in Addis Ababa.

Four African Union partners: United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK) and Sweden signed this arrangement in order to enhance coordination among partners supporting the AUC in the areas of trade, industry and customs. The overall goal of this JPA is to provide a framework for coordinated dialogue and support for AUC priorities related to development of trade and customs facilitation policies; supporting the Continental Free Trade Area (“CFTA”) negotiations; and enhancement of productive capacities on the Continent as defined in the AUC Strategic Plan 2014-2017.
Speaking on the occasion on behalf of the Partners, the USAID Representative to the African Union, Mr. Glenn Rogers, pointed out that the Joint Programming Arrangement is a milestone in building an inclusive partnership to achieve the envisioned results of the AUC 2014-2017 Strategy in areas related to trade. He mentioned that as the AUC and Partners seek to apply the common principles articulated in the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the Partners commit themselves to coordinate and harmonize their support for the Department of Trade and Industry’s Programmes.

The Commissioner for the Department of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, H.E. Fatima Haram Acyl, in her statement, thanked the Partners for their commitment to the success of the DTI’s programmes and confirmed AUC’s engagement towards increasing the effectiveness of development support and building mutual accountability and transparency for all involved in the JPA mechanism.
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For more information, please contact: Mr. James Maringwa, Expert - Trade-Related Results Based Planning - Email: MaringwaJ@africa-union.org

Media contact: Patient Atcho, Department of Trade and Industry – Email: atchop@africa-union.org

Press release N° 357/2014

The African Union Commission signs Joint Programming Arrangement with Development Partners

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 10 December 2014 - The African Union Commission (AUC) yesterday signed a Joint Programming Arrangement (JPA) to support the AUC Trade and Industry Program led by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under Pillar III "Integration, Cooperation and Partnerships" with Development Partners in Addis Ababa.

Four African Union partners: United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK) and Sweden signed this arrangement in order to enhance coordination among partners supporting the AUC in the areas of trade, industry and customs. The overall goal of this JPA is to provide a framework for coordinated dialogue and support for AUC priorities related to development of trade and customs facilitation policies; supporting the Continental Free Trade Area (“CFTA”) negotiations; and enhancement of productive capacities on the Continent as defined in the AUC Strategic Plan 2014-2017.
Speaking on the occasion on behalf of the Partners, the USAID Representative to the African Union, Mr. Glenn Rogers, pointed out that the Joint Programming Arrangement is a milestone in building an inclusive partnership to achieve the envisioned results of the AUC 2014-2017 Strategy in areas related to trade. He mentioned that as the AUC and Partners seek to apply the common principles articulated in the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the Partners commit themselves to coordinate and harmonize their support for the Department of Trade and Industry’s Programmes.

The Commissioner for the Department of Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, H.E. Fatima Haram Acyl, in her statement, thanked the Partners for their commitment to the success of the DTI’s programmes and confirmed AUC’s engagement towards increasing the effectiveness of development support and building mutual accountability and transparency for all involved in the JPA mechanism.
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For more information, please contact: Mr. James Maringwa, Expert - Trade-Related Results Based Planning - Email: MaringwaJ@africa-union.org

Media contact: Patient Atcho, Department of Trade and Industry – Email: atchop@africa-union.org

Press Release Nº 341/ 2014

The AUC and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) sign agreement to promote sustainable economic and social development in Africa.

Nairobi, Kenya, 03rd December 2014 – The African Union Commission (AUC) and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (“IDB”) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a platform through which to enhance ties between the Islamic world and the African continent.

The agreement will facilitate the launch of a framework to encourage cooperation between the ICD and AUC to promote economic, financial and social development of member states; as well as to develop an advisory process to identify challenges and address impediments to this mutual collaboration. In addition, it will support the private sector development across the respective regions. The parties will work towards the generation of a consolidated Plan of Action designed to mobilize private sector partners and resources for the implementation of joint priority programs (co-financing AUC private sector projects, providing advisory services to African governments….).

“The MoU will enhance and strengthen the coordination of complementary activities, interests and capacities between the ICD and AUC towards promoting private sector development, investment, and resource mobilization in Africa through unlocking business potential: including mobilizing foreign direct investment in various economic sectors within the key priority sector programs and projects identified by the ICD and AUC,” explained H.E. Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO of ICD.

“The cooperation between ICD and AUC will constitute a platform to strengthen ties between the respective regions and facilitate a consultative / advisory process to address issues that stand in the way of enhancing economic and commercial relations between ICD and AUC Members States. The purpose of this Memorandum is also to provide a general framework for and to facilitate cooperation between ICD and the AUC in promoting the economic, financial and social development of their respective Member States qnd set out a common approach between the AUC and ICD to support private sector development in their respective institutions,” mentioned H.E Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AUC.

The agreement was signed alongside the AUC’s 7th African Private Sector Forum, the largest forum for private sector in Africa, which unites leading international companies and business representatives with policy makers to discuss new investment and business opportunities in the continent.

For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dinfo@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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African Union Ministers of Trade consider Global Trade and Investments Trends as the Continent prepares to launch the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)

Addis Ababa, 9th December 2014: The two-day Ministerial Conference of the 9th Ordinary Session of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Trade (CAMOT-9) opened on 4th December 2014 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Session was convened for Ministers to deliberate upon, give guidance, and take decisions on a number of trade issues that are crucial for the socio-economic development of the continent.

The objective of the Ministerial meeting is mainly to prepare towards the launch of the Continental Free Trade areas Area negotiations in 2015, as directed by the AU Summit. In this regard, the meeting will consider key documents including the Draft Objectives and Guiding Principles for the negotiations of the CFTA, Draft Institutional Arrangements for CFTA Negotiations.

In her opening statement, the AUC Commissioner for Trade and Industry, H.E. Mrs Fatima Haram Acyl, recalled the objective of the meeting and reminded the Ministers that despite the economic growth performance, the Continent is still remaining the epicenter of global poverty. “If the vision set in Agenda 2063 of “an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena “is to be realized, we must intensify our efforts to achieve rapid, inclusive, poverty-reducing and sustainable economic growth”, she mentioned. The Commissioner highlighted that in the current era of globalization, the major challenge confronting African Trade Ministers is to ensure that the continent is well integrated into the Global Trading System and hence trade plays its role as engine of growth and development, for the contribution to the realization of the vision of a prosperous, strong and united Africa as articulated in the Constitutive Act of the African Union and Agenda 2063. Mrs. Acyl also recalled the adoption of the Boosting Intra-African Trade and the fast-tracking of the establishment of the (BIAT/CFTA) by the Heads of State and Government and urged the participants to take action. “The time for rhetoric should now be over and that of concrete action should begin in earnest”.(The full speech of the Commissioner is available on www.au.int )

In his remarks Mr. Robert Azevedo, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), noted that Africa has unmatched potential with abundant opportunities for trade and investment because it has the youngest population and the highest growth. He underlined that the African Union's Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade is very important and stressed that ongoing regional integration are critical for the creation of the Continental Free Trade Area. “Africa’s regional integration is totally compatible with the multilateral agenda – indeed I think this work will support wider integration into the multilateral trading system. The fact that intra-African trade remains just a tenth of Africa's total trade shows that improving regional integration is critical. But it also shows that engaging at the global andmultilateral level remains vital. That's why, while you are pursuing these regional efforts, you are also making your voices heard more loudly than ever at the WTO”, The Director General said. (The full statement is available on www.au.int)

Taking the floor, Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa, stressed the importance of being prepared and to ensure that structural transformation as the pillar for Africa’s trade policy framework. “Economic research, as well as the wisdom of our Panafrican thinkers, has long shown that intra-African trade can be the springboard for industrialization. Intra-African trade is already significantly more diversified than Africa’s trade with the rest of the world”, he said. (The full statement is available on www.au.int).

On his part, the Executive Director of the International Trade Center (ITC) Mrs. Arancha Gonzalez, observed that one of the areas the ITC has focused its efforts on is in building a strong relationship, not only with individual countries, but also with the regional economic communities and with the African Union Commission. “We are working with the AUC and the six RECs to develop complementary projects and programmes in support of your strategy to build a Continental Free Trade Area. We approach this through delivering our expertise around six focus areas which we have detailed in our 2015-2017 strategic plan, including trade and market intelligence”, she indicated. “We are also supporting the AUC in the establishment of a Pan-African Trade Observatory”, she added. (The full statement is available on www.au.int ).

The Ministerial conference was attended by the Ministers of Trade and Representatives of AU Member states as well as Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the International Trade Center (ICT), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and other key partners.

Media contact:
Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communication, AUC; molalett@africa-union.org

Mr. Patient ATCHO, Communication Officer; Department of Trade and Industry, AUC; atchop@africa-union.org

For more information please contact:

For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dic@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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Joint Press Release
AUC and EAC discuss measures to promote Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT)
Nairobi, 27th November 2014: Realizing that Compared to other regions in the world, Africa has the lowest level of intra-regional trade, the EAC Regional Consultative Meeting on the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA)/Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT) started on Thursday 27th November 2014 at Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.
The consultative meeting is happening at the point that the East African Region is at the point of consolidating the integration process through implementation of the Customs Union, Common Market and Monetary Union Protocols, implementing the regional industrial policy and strategy, negotiating and implementing various multilateral market access agreements, increasingly attracting both domestic and foreign direct investment as well as discovering and exploring natural resources, especially the hydro carbons.
The Consultative Meeting is being attended by Member Sates of EAC; Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda as well as the East African Business Council. The African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) also attend the Meetings as members of the AUC-UNECA-AfDB Joint Secretariat.
Making a statement on behalf of the AUC Commissioner for Trade and Industry, the AUC Director for Trade and Industry, Mrs.Treasure Maphanga, highlighted that despite that fact that Africa is rising and has a brighter future, still more has to be done to position the continent to benefit from and take advantage of the development potentials it has. “We are therefore duty bound to make decisions today that will position Africa to take advantage of these boundless possibilities tomorrow. The CFTA will be built upon the regional integration progresses made within all regions, including EAC as well as the Tripartite Free Trade agreement anticipated in the near future” said Mrs. Maphanga.
On his side, H.E. Ambassador Nelson Ndirangu, the Director of Economic Affairs and International Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Kenya, argued that the CFTA should not only focus on expanding and integrating trade but also extends to other areas such as infrastructure development in transport, information and communication technology and energy, customs, standardization, removal of non-tariff barriers and SPS measures and movement of businesses and persons.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr. Andrew Luzze, the Executive Director East African Business Council, noted that the degree to which Member States would have implemented existing trade commitments within their own economic groupings will be key in determining the success of the FTA tariff arrangement, therefore if the CFTA is to be progressive, it should go beyond the level of liberalization achieved by the Member States or the existing Regional Economic Communities so far.
The Consultative meeting is expected to facilitate dialogue among EAC Member States and the private sector on the CFTA and the BIAT Implementation Strategy, to Initiate a process of preparations in EAC for CFTA negotiations that could lead to the development of a Draft Action Plan and Strategy taking into account the regional dynamics and realities and Identify capacity building needs of EAC Member States and the EAC Secretariat for effective participation in CFTA negotiations and agreement on a joint resource mobilization strategy.

For more Information please contact Mr. Stanley Evarist Alphonce, Communication Officer, Directorate of Information and Communication, AUC, Tel: +251929188243, E-mail: AlphonceS@africa-union.org
Batanai Chikwene
Policy Officer | Department of Trade and Industry | African Union Commission
Tel: (251) 11 518 2961 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: CHIKWENEB@africa-union.org |
Addis Ababa | Ethiopia