The SAFCFTA Secretariat will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the agreement and will be an autonomous body within the AU system. Although it has an independent legal personality, it works closely with the AU Commission and receives its budget from the AU. The Council of Ministers responsible for trade decides on the location of the head office, structure, role and competences. [35] The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union is the supreme decision-making body. It will likely meet at AU summits. [39] The Council of Ministers responsible for trade oversees strategic trade policy and ensures the effective implementation and enforcement of the AfCFTA Agreement. [39] The different protocols are negotiated in two phases (see figure below). Phase 1 focused on three protocols: trade in goods with its 9 annexes, trade in services with its 3 annexes and dispute settlement. Phase 2 negotiations will focus on protocols on competition, intellectual property rights and investment. These agreements, especially those that are free trade areas or customs unions, have their own deeper integration agendas that they will continue to follow.
Intra-African trade continues on several tracks. As the AfCFTA progresses and consolidates, there is a need to strengthen policy convergence and simplify the rules. Implementation of the AfCFTA, although delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to resume in January 2021, with a first focus on trade facilitation for small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 90% of the jobs created on the continent. But the world the AfCFTA will look at in January will be very different from the world it was designed in. There are more challenges than ever, notably thanks to the economic destruction caused by the pandemic – “an unprecedented health and economic crisis,” the International Monetary Fund noted, “which threatens to destabilize the region, reverse the development progress of recent years and slow the region`s growth prospects in the coming years.” MAN President Frank Jacobs told the Nigerian press that the country`s private sector would not be consulted on the AfCFTA and warned that the deal could kill Nigerian industries and fuel unemployment. He said the government needed to explain its plan to protect 10 percent of products and enforce “rules of origin.” The World Bank`s report, The African Continental Free Trade Area: Economic and Distributional Effects, aims to help policymakers implement measures that can maximize the potential benefits of the agreement while minimizing risks. Creating a continent-wide market requires firm efforts to reduce all trade costs. Governments also need to develop strategies to increase the willingness of their workforce to seize new opportunities. . . .