By Dr. Maurice Ezuruike
The
landmark African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
agreement is the central instrument that operationalized the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 strategic
framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa. The Agenda embodied a set of institutional ideas to tackle
Africa’s essential challenges related to integration, prosperity and good
governance.
As one of
the flagship projects of this Agenda 2063, AfCFTA was adopted with an indicative date of 2017
but became fully operational in 2021 with objectives
fundamentally premised on facilitating the movement of persons, creating a
single market for goods and services, and promoting industrial development and
sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth.
These
specific areas of intervention are also encapsulated in the
foundational objectives of the establishment of the Pan African Parliament and
reflect more directly on its mandate as an organ of the African Unionin its
quest to contribute to a more prosperous future for the peoples of Africa by
promoting collective self-reliance, economic recovery, strengthening
continental solidarity and building a sense of common destiny among the peoples
of Africa.
AfCFTA embodies
tremendous opportunities for growth and sustainable development on the continent with an inherent potential to create a
continental free-trade zone with a combined Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) of USD$3.4 trillion. Considering that it emphasizes the
reduction of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and the facilitation of free
movement of people and labor, right of residence, right of establishment,
and investment, AfCFTA will unite all 55
member states of the African Union under a common market with a population of
over 1.2 billion people. With a booming middle class and the prospects of
eliminating import duties and reduction in non-tariff barriers, AfCFTA has
the potential to boost intra-African trade by 52.3 percent and transform
it as the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
These
tremendous inherent benefits are however fraught with critical challenges that
several economic experts have identified as potential impediments to maximizing
the full benefits of this agreement. Notable amongst them are the disparities
that exist in the level of institutional competencies within member states of
the African Union to implement the foundational principles of the agreement, the
high level of dilapidated and non-existent essential infrastructural framework,
weak fiscal and monetary policy, the lack of ratification of the agreement by
some AU member states, political unrest and overlapping
memberships in regional economic communities.
The AfCFTA agreement is now in the
phase of implementation but its success in boosting intra-African
trade will require the African Union to establish an effective mitigation
framework for the challenges identified by the economic experts.The Pan African
Parliament has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its relevance at the
continental arena as the only organ of the African Union equipped with the
relevant capacity to establish legal and legislative framework to harmonize
competing regional economic agreements, ensure complete ratification by all
member states and develop model laws covering trade in goods and services,
investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy.
While the
Pan African Parliament is concededly mandated to address these challenges, this
institutional capacity must be complemented with substantive leadership endowed
with the experience and background to articulate tangible and concrete
parliamentary framework for the actualization of the objectives of AfCFTA.
The timing and coincidental correlation of the operational phase of this AfCFTA agreement
and the Bureau elections at the Pan African Parliament profoundly underscores
the need for transformational leadership at all levels of governance at PAP and
the imperative of electing a leader experientially capacitated to articulate a
formidable legislative direction and framework to mitigate the challenges that
could impede the actualization of AfCFTA benefits for Africa.
Chief Fortune
Charumbira’s background as an institutional change, performance
improvement and leadership development expert demonstrates that he embodies the
requisite intellect to sustain the complexity of the implementation of this
agreement and is uniquely qualified to effectively initiate the needed institutional
framework to advance the implementation of this agreement and promote the
continent’s values and development. Chief Fortune Charumbira’s remarkable record of accomplishments at the continental and
national parliaments,when combined with his substantial experience
of AU processes support the contention that he possess top-notch
political skills to navigate this process and meet the leadership needs of the
parliament at this consequential moment.
The
operational phase of the AfCFTA has been launched with defined
five key instruments that will govern the agreement. The key instruments that
were adopted consist of the Rules of Origin; the Tariff concessions; online
mechanism on monitoring, reporting and elimination of non-tariff barriers
(NTB’s); the Pan-African payment and settlement system; and the African Trade
Observatory.There is need to develop national
strategies to guide the implementation of the operational phase of AfCFTA and
to also ensure that the principles of these operational instruments are
efficiently integrated into national development strategies and
priorities.
Because
of the already strong and cordial relations between the Pan African Parliament
and National Parliaments in Africa, PAP can effectively establish a platform to
articulate coherent guidelines for implementation of the five operational
instruments that will govern AfCFTA and for
generating legislative underpinnings to mitigate trading barriers.
The Pan
African Parliament has historically adopted programmes that strengthen
continental frameworks and instruments and has established robust mechanisms
whereby members of Pan African Parliament take back critical parliamentary
resolutions, debates and issues affecting ordinary citizens to member states.Pan African Parliamentarians by their unique
responsibility in the development of national budgetary processes are suitably
situated to also reflect the principles of these operational strategies in
their national budget priorities and give it more effect.
AfCFTA is
at the intersection of Africa’s most ambitious plans to rekindle the passion
for Pan-Africanism, a sense of continental unity, self-reliance, regional
integration and solidarity to the continent’s dynamic positioning within the
rest of the world. The success of any parliamentary engagement in this phase
will require a combination of a synergy between the Pan African Parliament and
the African Union Commission (AUC) and the right
leadership at PAP with tangible experience in trade policy development and
formulation to guide the parliament in making inputs on the modalities of
implementation of these operational instruments.This
synergy is only fostered in an environment of mutual trust and respect.
The Pan
African Parliament has in the course of the last four years suffered
significant diminution of respect at the African Union level stemming from
failures to adhere to decisions relating to our parliamentary administrative
and governance processes. There is need to embark on a total image overhaul
beginning with the election of a new crop of leaders with the right temperament
and integrity to strengthen our position and respect in the continental
community. This will undeniably restore our standing within the African Union
Community, rebuild our integrity and establish the requisite credibility and
cooperation integral to the actualization of the objectives of AfCFTA.
With
the election of Chief Charumbira as President, PAP will
be getting a President who not only is an honest broker of unquestioned
integrity but also understands the importance of recommitting to Africa’s
alliances and rebuilding trust within multilateral institutions and organs of
the African Union. Since the inception of PAP in 2004, Chief Charumbira has earned a reputation as a consensus builder,
and possesses impeccable record of mutually respectful and positive
collaborative engagement with other AU organs in areas of vital interest to the
continent. Chief Charumbira's dedication to the cause of the
African Union and participation at various African Union meetings representing
PAP is incomparably unwavering with consistent records and exhaustive
familiarity with the AU processes and the complexities of trade agreements.
The
absence of universal ratification of the AfCFTA presents a
unique challenge that must be rectified if the suboptimal impacts of this
trade agreement to Africa’s development and economic transformation are to
be derived. The African Union record on the ratification of this
agreement reflects that only 35 of the African Union’s (AU) 55 member States
have ratified the agreement, although fifty-four AU member States have signed
the AfCFTA with the exception of Eritrea. The implication is
that while AfCFTA is in effect for those 35 of the African
Union’s (AU) 55 member States that have ratified the agreement, the
countries that have not ratified will be outside of the process.The efficacy of
this agreement will require the participation and cooperation of the entire
member states of the African Union. While ratification of the agreement does
not require the entire member states, it will however require the engagement of
all member states for optimal results. This makes full ratification an absolute
economic necessity.
The Pan
African Parliament possesses enormous experience in fostering
and accelerating the ratification and domestication
of various continental instruments especially those that enhance continental
integration. PAP’s remarkable success
in this process is strengthened by its ties with Regional and National
parliaments through its annual conference of Speakers of African
National Parliaments and Parliaments of Regional Economic
Communities. Through this conference, Africa’s regional and national
parliaments are sensitized on African Union decisions especially the legal
instruments and the need to achieve speedy ratification and domestication.
This will
require competent intervention through a leaderthat could articulate coherent
strategies and proffer parliamentary pathways to sustaining speedy ratification
of the AfCFTA. Chief Fortune Charumbira has
maintained a consistent record of participation and leadership in activities
underlying and relating to the ratification, domestication and implementation
of AU legal instruments including more particularly the PAP transformation
protocol initiatives. He will certainly bring that experience to bear in
ensuring a speedy ratification of AfCFTA by all member states.
Undeniably
the agreement’s success in promoting seamless trade across the continent and
promoting the movement of Africans within the continent will hinge on
developing viable legislative infrastructure aimed at mitigating the barriers
to a complete ratification process. The challenge to the quest for speedy
ratification is compounded by the fact that it comes in the heels of the
ravaging effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond exposing Africa’s over
reliance to the global supply chain as evidenced by the significant economic
impact from the disruptions to global chain, the COVID_19 has already impacted
this agreement by causing a deceleration of the launch of trading under the new
agreement with a postponement from July 2020 until January 2021. If not
properly managed, COVID-19 could cause further disruptions to this agreement
especially in relation to a campaign for a total ratification unless the
campaign is anchored on leaders with the right experience, resolve and
capacity.
Chief
Charumbira has a record of resourceful intervention in moments of
institutional crisis and will bring that experience to bear in this period
where the ravaging effects of the Covid-19 global pandemic have had
destabilizing impacts to the viability of our continental projects such as
AfCFTA. Under his leadership as Chairperson of the PAP Committee
on Administrative, Financial and Performance Evaluation (CAFE), he established
the investigative framework that led to the reversal of negative consequences
of poor financial assessments by independent auditors by restoring the
confidence of donor/development partners in the funding architecture of PAP
programmes and missions and establishing the mechanism for a structural and
institutional readjustment of existing practices. His competence and
exceptional brilliance in the handling of this challenge resulted in the return
of donor partners and its corresponding enhancement in funding architecture for
Pan African Parliament strategic plans. This skill and experience will be
useful in this extraordinary time especially as we seek to find a way out of
this global crisis while restoring confidence and trust in our institutions
functional capabilities.
The
interplay with the regional economic communities and the overlapping
memberships that exist in Africawith series of eight regional economic
communities (RECs) presents a unique challenge on how this
new AfCFTA will operate. This challenge is compounded by
existing free trade agreements already negotiated by respective members of
regional economic communities as well as the regional and national trading
arrangements with other countries, such as the economic partnership
agreements (EPAs) that some African countries and country groups
have negotiated with the EU.This series of regional economic
communities (RECs) that exist in Africa creates the potential for
fragmentation and incoherence especially when one considers disparities in
levels of regional trading arrangements and the competing strategies for
economic integration.These factors illustrate the need for harmonization
especially in areas where there is conflicting trade positions with AfCFTA.
The Pan
African Parliament is the only organ within the AU that has
demonstrated the capacity to assemble regional communities for cooperation and
relationship. It has since its inception strengthened ties with regional and
national parliaments and pursued programmes aimed at integrating the African
continent within the framework of the establishment of the African Union
consistent with its foundational objective of facilitating cooperation and
development in Africa and facilitating cooperation among regional economic communities
and their parliamentary fora.
Through
this platform the continent can sensitize member states on the different routes
that regions have adopted to pursue economic integration, offer unique
opportunity to understand how to accommodate the varying development levels,
articulate efficient models, and establish a platform for harmonization so that
the various regimes and models adopted by member states operate in a manner
that enhances coherence in an already complex trading system.
By
creating this platform, PAP has made it easier for leaders of various regional
economic communities to come together and review existing strategic frameworks,
and existing regional or multinational trade agreements in the various African
States, evaluate the potential development impacts
and extrapolate relevant factors to ensure that the existing agreements are
coherent and supportive of sustainable development in the continent.
The
efficiency of this platform will require a leader with the integrity, knowledge
and intellectual depth to analyze the legislative underpinnings of the
frameworks, establish coherent mechanism for achieving the objectives of the
agreement and articulate concrete institutional
framework of coordination and harmonization with existing regional
communities and trading ties with other partners.
Chief
Charumbira has more than 20 years’ experience as institutional change
and leadership development consultant in both the public and private sector. He
has managed several institutional change and leadership development projects in
Eastern and Southern Africa. His experience in managing public sector reforms
includes institutional diagnosis, strategic planning, organizational
restructuring, job analysis and job evaluation, change management, installation
of performance management systems, training impact assessment, and local
government reform, among others.His experience in
institutional transformation will be an added advantage to propel the success
of this engagement and to formulate coherent national strategies and
synergy with National Parliaments, Regional Economic Communities, the
African Union Commission, and other AU Organsin the implementation of AfCFTA.
The AfCFTA framework
envisions an agreement that will continue to evolve over time as more negotiations
are planned. To actualize this vision of an integrated and prosperous Africa,
the African Union not only needs a Parliament substantially equipped with a
functional legal, regulatory and legislative framework to promote continental
integration and boost intra African trade by its ability to develop model laws
but also needs a strong, capable and visionary leader at the Parliament to
guide and articulate a coherent strategy for harmonization and implementation.
With Chief
Charumbira, PAP and indeed the continent will be getting
someone with demonstrated experience, unbridled tenacity and resilience, and
consistent determination to guide the parliament
with honesty, integrity and confidence. His unparalleled ability to inspire
others with a vision and purpose will be vital in this engagement. Hon.
Charumbira has served as a Member of the Pan African
Parliament (PAP) since its inception in 2004 and was elected Vice
President representing the Southern African Regional Caucus in 2018 with remarkable
competence and experience that could undeniably foster the actualization of
this agreement. His wide and varied experience at the Pan African Parliament
including his current position as Acting President and his proven expertise in
institutional development will be instrumental in developing meaningful
engagement with leaders across the continent so that we can achieve our
goal for a prosperous Africa where economic growth is translated in wealth and
employment creation, and guided by sustainable consistent policies.
Dr. Maurice Ezuruike was Senior Legislative Adviser/Chief of Staff
to late former President of the Pan African Parliament H.E Hon Bethel Nnaemeka
Amadi
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