African Lawyers Encouraged To Amplify The Continent’s Innovations Towards Improved Trade Practices
The AfCFTA Secretary General, H.E. Wamkele Mene is encouraging African lawyers to support the implementation of the AfCFTA by amplifying Africa’s innovations in areas such as digital trade, intellectual property rights, women and youth in trade, etc.
The Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat who was participating in a business and law dinner organized by the Cameroon Bar Association as a guest of honour and keynote speaker, reviewed progress made on the AfCFTA implementation since its establishment.
According to H.E. Wamkele Mene, Lawyers through their national associations can assist in proposing the strengthening of domestic laws that are supportive of the AfCFTA and also proposing the elimination of archaic laws that impede the AfCFTA implementation process at national level.
“I encourage deeper engagement between local business chambers, legal associations, and national AfCFTA Committees to ensure that businesses understand the rules and are equipped to take full advantage of them. In this regard, I call on the Cameroonian business community to take a leading role in driving regional integration, by trading more across borders, investing in value-added production, and forming partnerships that support decent jobs and sustainable growth”.
H.E. Wamkele Mene highlighted tools and instruments that have been established to support the implementation of the continental economic integration agreement, which is part of the Vision of the Founding Fathers of the African Unity.
“The proposition I advance is that the AfCFTA is not just a trade agreement, but it is actually a blueprint of the economic integration of our continent.” The Secretary General explained.
He further elaborated that the AfCFTA Secretariat has made a lot of progress in ensuring that requisite frameworks and instruments have been prepared and put in place to ensure that the vision of creating the continent’s most important contemporary economic renaissance becomes a reality.
“We have had to introduce tools to make this vision translate into a reality, so that it doesn’t become a trade agreement that is attractive to the bureaucrats like me or trade lawyers, but it does actually have commercially meaningful opportunities that it creates for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), for Economic Operators and for Young People”. Secretary General Wamkele Mene highlighted.
The AfCFTA Secretariat has also initiated the development of guidelines to support the negotiation and conclusion of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) for professionals and regulatory bodies in services sectors. These guidelines are intended to provide a structured framework to assist State Parties in facilitating cross-border recognition of qualifications, licensing, and professional standards.
“We are prioritizing the finalization of draft regulatory frameworks considering the growing multipolarity of global regulatory regimes. Completing this work is important to prevent the continent from being split along external systems and to ensure that our frameworks reflect Africa’s own priorities and contexts.
Meanwhile, comprehensive sector studies in the seven additional services sectors, namely, Construction, Distribution, Education, Energy-Related Services, Environmental, Health, and Recreational, Cultural and Sporting Services (RCS) are at various stages of completion. Studies for Education, Environmental, Health, and RCS sectors have already been completed.
The negotiation and adoption of the Phase I and II Protocols have laid a solid legal foundation for a rules-based trading system in Africa. These protocols cover trade in goods and services, dispute settlement, investment, digital trade, and women and youth in trade, ensuring that the AfCFTA is not only inclusive but forward-looking” H.E. Mene asserted.
The Secretary said, to translate the framework into real economic impact, the Secretariat is implementing a Private Sector Engagement Strategy that promotes regional production networks in key sectors such as agriculture, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and logistics, with strong support from Afreximbank. This strategy aims to boost industrial capacity, create jobs, and deepen regional value chains.
H.E. Wamkele Mene revealed that the Secretariat is rolling out initiatives to support SME development and access to finance and one of such efforts is the AfCFTA–UBA Financing Facility, which targets up to $6 billion in support over three years for SMEs in agro-processing, logistics, pharmaceuticals, and the automotive sector.
“To address disparities in readiness and ensure equitable benefits, the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund has been established. An initial $1 billion has been mobilised, with a target of up to $10 billion. The fund supports the operationalisation of trading companies and trade aggregators across State Parties, helping to level the playing field and accelerate AfCFTA implementation”.
