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Botswana is in the process of developing a National African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation Strategy to capitalise on the opportunities provided by the continental trade organisation.
In the case of Botswana, key strategies and frameworks including the National Development Plan (NDP) 11, Botswana Vision 2036, the National Transformation Strategy, and the National Trade Policy for Botswana, among others, will be key reference documents in the drafting of the strategy, stated the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). In its role of providing technical assistance to Member States, the ECA has announced that it is spearheading a project to develop national AfCFTA strategies.
The ECA stated that through the National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plans, Botswana and other member states are expected to identify their comparative advantages for economic diversification, as well as prioritise value chains to be developed. This is intended to support economic diversification and maximise trade potential under the Agreement.
According to the document, in addition to sectors with a comparative advantage, the National AfCFTA Strategy should ideally identify emerging sectors and industries that can position Botswana to integrate into regional and global value chains, enabling the production of competitive, higher value-added goods. Cross-cutting issues to be considered in the strategy include but are not limited to gender mainstreaming, youth, people living with disabilities and environmental and climate change mitigation strategies and green industrialisation technologies,” reads the document.
The document also says the national implementation strategy will need to be inclusive in the way it supports trade to achieve the intended development goals through adequate consideration of pertinent gender, youth and people living with disabilities issues. The ECA notes that the liberalisation of trade impacts men and women differently due to the different economic and social positions they occupy. Developing a gender-sensitive approach is necessary to mitigate the negative impact of trade policies on women and enhance the positive outcomes for women to strengthen the overall effectiveness of these policies, ECA says.
The organisation said in developing the envisaged National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plan for trade in both goods and services, a communications plan and the attendant Monitoring and Evaluation framework for the strategy will also be developed.
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The National Consultative Forum will be organised to engage relevant national stakeholders in the process of developing the National AfCFTA Strategy and Implementation Plan. An inception report detailing the processes, steps, milestones, etc. involved in the development of the national AfCFTA strategy as per the Guidelines for developing African Continental Free Trade Area national strategies, to be made available by ECA will also be prepared.
The report also highlights that broad and inclusive consultations with all relevant stakeholders at both national and local levels, as determined in collaboration with the ECA, Botswana’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, and other key stakeholders, will be organised.
