Result of Service

The consultant will be paid a total amount of USD 12 000 in four instalments as per the schedule below: IX. First Payment will be upon delivering of a satisfactory Inception Report, 10% of the total remuneration, X. Second payment will be upon delivering of a satisfactory Diagnostic Report, 20% of the total remuneration. XI. Third payment will be upon delivering of satisfactory Draft National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plan and Revised Diagnostic Report, 30% of the total remuneration; and XII. Fourth and last payment will be upon delivering of a final National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plan, 40% of the total remuneration.

Work Location

Remote

Expected duration

6 months

Duties and Responsibilities

1. BACKGROUND The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21st March 2018 is a key milestone in Africa’s Integration Agenda. The Agreement includes Protocols on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes, Investment, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Competition Policy, Women and Youth and Digital Trade. The negotiations towards the protocols on the first three issues were concluded in 2022 and the final protocols were adopted by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 19 February 2023. Angola deposited the instrument of ratification on the 4th November 2020, thus becoming a State Party to the Agreement. The AfCFTA is expected to be a key engine of economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa in line with the 2030 Agenda adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 for “The Africa We Want”. For the AfCFTA to deliver the expected outcomes, priority actions are to be undertaken in the short to medium term. Firstly, the ratification of the AfCFTA is critical. Efforts to support Member States in consensus-building to secure the ratification of the Agreement should be accompanied by strengthening the AfCFTA marketplace through continental policies on competition, investment and intellectual property rights. Secondly, there is a need to build on the political momentum behind the AfCFTA to support policy reforms that are aimed at implementing the Agreement as well as the required domestication. In this regard, it is critical for Member States to undertake deliberate actions and deploy necessary efforts through effective and integrated AfCFTA national strategies with a view to maximize the benefits of the Agreement while minimizing potential induced adverse effects. The strategies will be complemented by an effective monitoring and evaluation framework that will track progress on the implementation of the Agreement. Similarly, they will be informed by regional commitments to economic integration and industrialization; as well as National Policies and overarching strategies such as the Long-Term Development Strategy for Angola, the National Development Plan and other sectoral strategies, among others. As part of its role in providing technical assistance to Member States, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is leading the implementation of a project aimed at designing national AfCFTA strategies. AfCFTA Implementation strategies are expected to identify where comparative advantages lie for each country for diversification as well as priority value chains to be developed in order to support economic diversification and maximize trade potential in the context of the Agreement. Beyond sectors identified as having a comparative advantage, the document should be forward looking and identify sectors and industries of the future, which can enable Angola to ultimately integrate into regional and global value chains and higher value-added goods. Cross cutting issues to be considered in the strategy include gender mainstreaming, youth, people living with disabilities, environmental and climate change mitigation strategies as well as technologies. Trade liberalization policies will not achieve intended development goals if they are not designed and implemented with the adequate consideration of gender, youth and people living with disabilities issues. The liberalization of trade impacts men and women differently due to the different economic and social positions they occupy. Thus, developing a gender-sensitive approach is necessary to mitigate the negative impact of trade policies on women and enhance the positive outcomes for women which will strengthen the overall effectiveness of these policies. It is in this context that ECA – the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) and the Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (ECA SRO-SA) intend to recruit a national consultant to lead country-level activities on the development of a National AfCFTA Strategy to support implementation of the Agreement in Angola. The consultant will specifically develop a 5-year National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy for trade in goods and services, its detailed action plan, a communications plan and the attendant Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism. 2. SCOPE OF WORK Working under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Ministry of Commerce, ECA SRO-SA and ATPC, the national services consultant is expected to work in close collaboration with various stakeholders at national, regional and global levels involved in developing a strategy for the services sector. The consultant will contribute the trade in services component to the Draft National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy and Action Plan for Angola. The key components of the strategy should highlight but not limited to the following: Macroeconomic Framework, Production and Trade, AfCFTA Situational Analysis, AfCFTA- related Risks and Mitigation Actions, Identification and Prioritization of Production and Trade Opportunities, Constraints to overcome and Strategic Actions required, Strategic Objectives, Action plan and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, Financing the Implementation of the Agreement, Communication and visibility plan and strategy budget. The scope of work will take into consideration cooperation; investment; intellectual property rights (IPR), competition, digital trade and women and youth issues. The Consultant is, among other things, expected to undertake the following during the assignments; The work will focus on the priority services sectors, including; financial services – all insurance and insurance-related services, banking and other financial services; telecommunications – fixed-line and mobile; transportation – internal waterways transport, air transport, space transport, rail transport, road transport, pipeline transport, services auxiliary to all modes of transport; business – including professional services: accounting, auditing, and legal services and tourism services – hotels and restaurants (including catering), travel agencies and tour operator services, tourist guide services and other related services. The consultant will also identify future potential sectors for liberalization and which Angola should strategically engage regional partners on opening. Given the important role of services trade in generating income, employment and economic opportunities, mainstreaming these services in all aspects of trade and economic development is critical. Specifically, the consultant will; i) Produce a national AfCFTA trade in services strategy for Angola, which will be integrated into the final National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy for Angola. ii) Work with a team that includes an international expert, a national trade in goods expert and a national consultant providing administrative support; iii) Collect relevant national data on the following service sectors – Business services, Communication services, Construction and related engineering services, Distribution services, Educational services, Environmental services, Financial services, Health and social services, Tourism and travel related services, Recreational, cultural and sporting services, Transport services, to be used in the development of the Angola National AfCFTA Trade in Services Implementation Strategy and Action Plan with nominated champions for specific deliverables and timeframes; iv) Assess the capacity and competitiveness of the services sector in Angola and its connectedness with other regional and international service providers; v) Identify specific regulatory barriers to trade in the twelve services sectors – Business services, Communication services, Construction and related engineering services Distribution services, Educational services, Environmental services, Financial services, Health and social services, Tourism and travel related services, Recreational, cultural and sporting services, Transport services; vi) Review commitments made by Angola at multilateral and regional levels to identify how services liberalization under the AfCFTA can exceed existing commitments; vii) Hold consultations on the implementation of the AfCFTA schedule of Specific Commitments with all concerned stakeholders; viii) Conduct a survey on laws, regulations and administrative practices in the priority sectors and their sub-sectors; ix) Collect data on the legal and regulatory environment in each of the priority sectors and their sub-sectors; x) Advise on the required legal and regulatory environment on the services priority sectors for full implementation of the Agreement; xi) Incorporate digital trade as a facilitating sub sector of services in all the priority services sectors as well as in goods trade; xii) Assist the country in establishing and operationalizing a National Committee on Implementation of the AfCFTA to ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the development and implementation of the national AfCFTA Implementation Strategy; Specifying/identifying the Committee’s capacity building needs for technical support. xiii) Collaborate with the team of consultants, the ECA and the relevant Ministries/Agencies on all project activities at country level, working closely with all the stakeholders involved in the project including government officials, the private sector, vulnerable groups, youth, women entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and academia; xiv) Integrate gender and youth dimensions through disaggregated data and key relevant gender indicators in the study on the services sector; xv) Timeously submit the study on the services sector, reports of stakeholder consultations, reports of data collection, and a compendium of all policies, laws and regulations in electronic copy and categorise the documents by name, date of issuing, issuing institution and a few additional information on the law and regulation according the agreed methodology; xvi) Integrate the analysis and findings of Angola’s defensive and offensive interests in the trade in services sectors of: Business services, Communication services, Construction and related engineering services, Distribution services, Educational services, Environmental services, Financial services, Health and social services, Tourism and travel related services, Recreational, cultural and sporting services, Transport services, into the National Strategy and Action Plan; xvii) Recommend the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) mechanisms of the Strategy; Ensure quality, and timely delivery of the project outputs at national levels; xviii) Attend regular meetings convened by the Ministry, UNECA and the lead intern consultant; and xix) Assist with any other ad-hoc requests within the context of the project. 5. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS/REPORTING LINES The Ministry of Commerce is the lead of all processes. The Project Manager for for the Project shall be an Official in the Ministry of Commerce. The National Consultant on Trade in services will deal with the Project Manager and the International Consultant on daily basis regarding the implementation of the project with the technical support of UNECA.

Qualifications/special skills

The consultant should have minimum academic qualifications as follows; Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or above, a PhD will be an added advantage) in Trade Economics, International Trade Policy/ International Trade Law, International Business or a related field. The consultant should have a minimum of seven (7) years of proven experience in trade policy formulation, regional integration, planning, strategy development and trade development issues. Proven ability to draft technical reports/papers is desirable. Knowledge of trade, development and regional integration issues in the African context is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For this post, fluency in English (both oral and written) and fluency in Portuguese (both oral and written) is required.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.