African countries to align BIAT action plan with AfCFTA goals

African countries are seeking to implement the Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT) Action Plan to align with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and improve Africa’s share of global trade.

BIAT is divided into seven pivotal clusters, focusing on integrating intra-African trade into national strategies, involving the private sector in policymaking, enhancing food products and services, simplifying trade regulations, reducing transit times, optimising border posts, and integrating border management. Despite significant progress in implementing AfCFTA, BIAT remains limited with little information available on its domestication and implementation at regional and national levels.

While the AfCFTA has seen significant strides with 47 out of 54 signatories ratifying the agreement as of April 2024 and trading commencing on January 1, 2021, the BIAT Action Plan’s progress has been limited.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) convened an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) recently to evaluate and enhance the Action Plan.

In a statement, ECA said trade integration has been identified as an important driver and essential ingredient for inclusive growth and economic development across the African continent.
 
Despite Africa’s substantial potential, the continent’s share in global exports remains around three per cent, highlighting the need for increased intra-African trade and industrialisation.
 
Currently, intra-African exports and imports stood at 17.8 per cent and 14.6 per cent respectively, which is below the levels seen in Europe and Asia. Acknowledging this potential, the AU Assembly, during its 18th Ordinary Session in January 2012, adopted the decision to establish the AfCFTA to create a unified African market. This initiative aims to foster seamless trade in goods and services, enhance Africa’s global trade position, and drive sustainable socio-economic development.

The BIAT identifies seven key clusters: Trade Policy, Trade Facilitation, Productive Capacity, Trade-Related Infrastructure, Trade Finance, Trade Information and Factor Market Integration, which are crucial for deepening market integration and boosting intra-African trade. The meeting will serve as a veritable platform to review the draft report, ‘Framework for Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT), Ten-Years After Progress, Implementation Challenges and Implications for the AfCFTA.’

It sought to gather insights from experts, Regional Economic Communities (RECS), and other stakeholders to enrich the report’s content, enhance its analytical soundness and ensure the robustness of its data and recommendations. 
Participants were drawn from RECS, the African Union Commission, the AfCFTA Secretariat, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Afreximbank, the Trade and Development Bank, the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) and representatives from the private sector.