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ECA holds briefing for African Embassies in Addis Ababa

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) held a briefing for all African embassies based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday 6 February 2006. The briefing covered activities of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), which is a project of ECA set-up with funding from the Canada Fund for Africa. Several Ambassadors and senior diplomats attended, including representatives from the African Union and Canada Fund for Africa.

Speaking at the briefing, the director of ECA's Trade and Regional Integration Division, Hakim Ben Hammouda, welcomed all participants on behalf of ECA Executive Secretary Mr. Abdoulie Janneh. He said the briefing was part of the regular contact between ECA and African representatives in Addis Ababa and through them, ECA's 53 Member States. He noted that as international trade negotiations become more technical and complex, ATPC would continue to support African countries with relevant research, training and technical backstopping to African negotiators based in Geneva. Mr. Ben Hammouda thanked the Canada International Development Agency for their continued support to ATPC through the Canada Fund for Africa and called on African diplomats based in Addis Ababa to use ATPC as their resource and to freely contact its staff to discuss member-country needs.

The coordinator of ATPC, Mr Adeyemi Dipeolu briefed the Embassies on the background to ATPC, its numerous activities and services. He said ATPC would give tailor-made advice to individual countries on particular issues in response to requests from member states. Stephen Karingi, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, briefed diplomats about support the ATPC is currently providing to African countries on trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization and Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union. Specific studies have already been conducted on Ethiopia, Mali and Rwanda and other country studies are continuing.

During the ensuing discussions, diplomats called on ATPC to expand its activities to include other trade regimes like the Everything But Arms initiative and the African Growth and Opportunities Act. They welcomed the collaborative work ATPC is doing with other agencies including UNCTAD and thanked ECA for the comprehensive briefing.

Background:

The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) was set up by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in May 2003 with the financial support of the Government of Canada through its Canada Fund for Africa. The primary objective of the Centre is to strengthen the human, institutional and policy capacity of African governments to formulate and implement sound trade policies and participate more effectively in international trade negotiations. Specific activities of ATPC include: conducting trade research; disseminating trade-related information; providing training on trade issues; providing advisory services; building African consensus on trade issues; and creating partnerships on African trade issues.

:: Trade Negotiations Research and Technical Assistance by Stephen Karingi

:: Activities of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) by Adeyemi Dipeolu