SRO-SA Consultant to provide administrative support to AFCFTA Strategy Team of Consultants for the Republic of Angola

Result of Service

The deliverables from this assignment will include: i) A written report submitted by the consultant directly to UNECA every two weeks describing activities undertaken. ii) Direct logistical contributions to support the finalization of the National AfCFTA Strategy. iii) Technical Reports in line with assignments from the Project Manager and the team of International and national consultants. iv) Direct logistical support to ensure the organization of National AfCFTA Forum, stakeholder consultations and the Validation workshop for the National AfCFTA Strategy Remuneration The total fees for the assignment will be US$7,000 (seven thousand dollars) to be paid in two equal instalments. The first instalment of US$3,500 (three thousand five hundred dollars) will be paid after the organisation of the National AfCFTA Forum. The second and final instalment of US$3,500 (three thousand five hundred dollars) will be paid after the conclusion of the Validation Workshop

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 Commerce, ECA SRO-SA and the ATPC, the national consultant responsible for administrative support is expected to closely collaborate with the international consultant and the consultants for trade in goods and for trade in services and to support them to achieve their duties in a satisfactory manner. Specifically, the national consultant will; i) Facilitate and organize stakeholder consultations for the ( three) consultants working on the National AfCFTA Strategy, while giving special attention first to the needs of the international consultant located outside of Angola; ii) Act as a liaison between international and national consultants and national stakeholders. iii) Collect national data (qualitative and quantitative) on trade in goods and services, including data on the legal and regulatory environment in each of the priority service sectors and their sub-sectors. iv) Assist international and national consultants in the design of questionnaires and interview questions to be addressed to a wide range of national stakeholders including government officials, business entities, civil society organizations, financial institutions, academia and development partners among others; v) Facilitate the collection of data and access to documentation for the international consultants located outside of Angola and ensure translation of the documentation to English if required; vi) Maintain accurate records of interviews and surveys, safeguarding the confidentiality of subjects, as necessary. vii) Provide support to the international consultant during their missions to Angola (including providing interpretation from Portuguese to English when necessary); viii) Provide support for the organization of the National AfCFTA Forum and the Validation workshop for the National AfCFTA Strategy and to the stakeholder consultations that are needed while preparing the national AfCFTA strategy; ix) Prepare briefing notes and generic summary reports as requested and guided by the trade strategy experts. x) Attend the project meetings and assist in the preparation of outcome statements and reports; xi) Respond to ad-hoc requests for support as formulated by UNECA to facilitate the work of all the consultants to ensure a timely delivery of outputs; xii) Respond to requests for administrative assistance as formulated by Ministry of Commerce to facilitate the successful conclusion of the national AfCFTA strategy. xiii) Assist with any other ad-hoc requests within the context of the project.

Qualifications/special skills

The consultant should have minimum academic qualifications as follows; An advanced degree in a social science field, business administration or any other relevant area is required The candidate should have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant work experience in Administration or any related Social Science is required.

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 an added advantage.

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.