Posting Title: SRO-SA National Consultant: Trade Strategy Expert - Trade in Services Republic of Botswana

Department/Office: Economic Commission for Africa

Duty Station: LUSAKA_ISC

Posting Period: 17 March 2021 - 30 March 2021

Job Opening Number: 21-Economic Commission for Africa-151941-Consultant

United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity

Result of Service

The African Trade Policy Centre and the Sub-Regional Office for South Africa (ECA SRO-SA) intends to recruit a national consultant to support country-level activities on the development of a national strategy for the AfCFTA to support implementation of this project in Botswana. The consultant will specifically develop a national AfCFTA implementation strategy for trade in services, its action plan and attendant Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism.

Work Location

Republic of Botswana

Expected duration

The study is expected to be undertaken within a period of 4 months

Remuneration

The consultant will be paid a total of USD 7,000 (seven thousand dollars) for the assignment, allocated according to the following schedule:

  • 10 percent after submission of an inception report containing a detailed understanding the TOR, study methodology, sources of information, a plan for the consultative process, a detailed outline for the draft AfCFTA Strategy, references/sources for the study;
  • 50 percent after the presentation of the draft AfCFTA Strategy document
  • 40 percent after the receipt of the revised and final Botswana AfCFTA Strategy document

Duties and

Responsibilities

Project: Deepening Africa's Trade Integration through Effective Implementation of the AfCFTA

Project country: Republic of Botswana

Background

The Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21st March 2018 is a key milestone in Africa's integration Agenda. The Agreement includes the Protocol on Trade in Goods, the Protocol on Trade in Services and the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes.

The AfCFTA is expected to be a key engine of economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa in line with the 2030 Agenda adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 for "The Africa We Want".

For the AfCFTA to deliver the expected outcomes, priority actions must be undertaken in the short to medium term. Firstly, the ratification of the AfCFTA is critical. Efforts to support Member States in consensus-building to secure the ratification of the Agreement should be accompanied by strengthening the AfCFTA marketplace through continental policies on competition, investment and intellectual property rights. Secondly, there is a need to build on the political momentum behind the AfCFTA to support policy reforms that are aimed at implementing the Agreement as well as the required domestication. In this regard, it is critical for Member States to undertake deliberate actions and deploy necessary efforts through effective and integrated AfCFTA national strategies with a view to maximize the benefits of the Agreement while minimizing potential induced adverse effects. The strategies will be complemented by an effective monitoring and evaluation framework that will track progress on the implementation of the Agreement. Similarly, the strategies will be informed by regional commitments to economic integration and industrialization; as well as national policies and overarching strategies such as the National Development Plan (NDP) 11; Botswana Vision 2036; the National Trade Policy for Botswana; the National Transformation Strategy, among others.

As part of its role in providing technical assistance to Member States, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is leading the implementation of a project aimed at deepening Africa's trade integration through domestication and effective implementation of the aspirations towards the AfCFTA. The main component of the project is to support pilot African countries to develop AfCFTA National Strategies and Action Plans for trade in goods and services. The national strategies and action plans are expected to identify where comparative advantages lie for each country for diversification as well as priority value chains to be developed in order to support economic diversification and maximize trade potential in the context of the Agreement. The key cross-cutting issues to be considered in the strategy and action plans include gender, environmental and climate change mitigation, technologies and the impact on the youth and other vulnerable groups.

The project acknowledges that trade liberalization policies will not achieve intended development goals if they are not designed and implemented without the adequate consideration of gender and other vulnerable groups. The liberalization of trade impacts men and women differently due to the different economic and social positions they occupy. Thus, developing a gender-sensitive approach is necessary to mitigate the negative impact of trade policies on women and enhance the positive outcomes for women which will strengthen the overall effectiveness of these policies.

It is in this context ECA - the African Trade Policy Centre and the Sub-Regional Office for South Africa (ECA SRO-SA) intends to recruit a national consultant to support country-level activities on the development of a national strategy for the AfCFTA to support implementation of this project in Botswana. The consultant will specifically develop a national AfCFTA implementation strategy for trade in services, its action plan and attendant Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism.

Services constitute the largest sector in the global economy, accounting for 70 percent of global GDP, 60 percent of global employment and 46 percent of global exports measured in value-added terms. The advancement in technology has resulted in international services trade becoming the new frontier for expanding and diversifying exports, providing significant opportunities for developing and least developed countries. Services sectors contribute on average fifty percent (50 per cent) to the GDP of African economies. Negotiations on trade in services have been conducted throughout the AfCFTA negotiation institutions for nearly two years now. The Protocol on Trade in Services is to be complemented by annexes as part of the built-in-agenda, and by schedules of specific commitments where Member States indicate sectors liberalized in their territory and regulatory framework for the services sectors. Regulations are the heart of services and thus it is imperative to undertake a study on the sectors to feed into the overall national strategy and implementation plan on the AfCFTA.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the ECA SRO-SA, ATPC and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, the national services consultant is expected to work in close collaboration with various stakeholders at national, regional and global levels involved in developing a strategy for the services sector.

The work will focus on the priority services sectors, including; financial services - all insurance and insurance-related services, banking and other financial services; telecommunications - fixed-line and mobile; transportation - internal waterways transport, air transport, space transport, rail transport, road transport, pipeline transport, services auxiliary to all modes of transport; business - including professional services: accounting, auditing, and legal services and tourism services - hotels and restaurants (including catering), travel agencies and tour operator services, tourist guide services and other related services. The consultant will also identify future potential sectors for liberalization and which Botswana should strategically engage regional partners on opening up. Given the important role of services trade in generating income, employment and economic opportunities, mainstreaming these services in all aspects of trade and economic development is critical.

Specifically, the consultant for trade in services sector will;

i. Produce a national AfCFTA trade in services strategy for Botswana, which will be integrated into the final National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy for Botswana.

ii. Work with a team that includes a national trade in goods expert, and a trade and gender expert.

iii. Collect relevant national data on the following service sectors - Business ces, Communication services, Construction and related engineering services, Distribution services, Educational services, Environmental services, Financial services, Health and social services, Tourism and travel related services, Recreational, cultural and sporting services, Transport services, , to be used in the development of the Botswana National AfCFTA Trade in Services Implementation Strategy and Action Plan with nominated champions for specific deliverables and timeframes;

iv. Assess the capacity and competitiveness of the services sector in Botswana and its connectedness with other regional and international service providers;

v. Identify specific regulatory barriers to trade in the twelve priority services sectors - Business services, Communication services, Construction and related engineering services Distribution services, Educational services, Environmental services, Financial services, Health and social services, Tourism and travel related services, Recreational, cultural and sporting services, Transport services,

vi. Review commitments made at multilateral and regional levels to identify how services liberalization under the AfCFTA can exceed existing commitments;

vii. Conduct a survey on laws, regulations and administrative practices in the priority sectors and their sub-sectors;

viii. Collect data on the legal and regulatory environment in each of the priority sectors and their sub-sectors;

ix. Advise on the required legal and regulatory environment on the services priority sectors for full implementation of the Agreement;

x. Assist the country in establishing and operationalizing a National Committee on Implementation of the AfCFTA to ensure meaningful participation of all stakeholders in the development and implementation of the national AfCFTA Implementation Strategy; Specifying/identifying the Committee's capacity building needs for technical support.

xi. Collaborate with the consultant on trade in goods, the ECA and the relevant Ministries/Agencies on all project activities at country level, working closely with all the stakeholders involved in the project including government officials, the private sector, vulnerable groups, youth, women entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and the academia;

xii. Integrate gender and youth dimensions through disaggregated data and key relevant gender indicators in the study on the services sector;

xiii. Timeously submit the study on the services sector, reports of stakeholder consultations, reports of data collection, and a compendium of all policies, laws and regulations in electronic copy and categorise the documents by name, data of issuing, issuing institution and a few additional information on the law and regulation according the agreed methodology;

xiv. Integrate the analysis and findings of Botswana's defensive and offensive interests in the trade in services sectors of: Business services, Communication services, Construction and related engineering services, Distribution services, Educational services, Environmental services, Financial services, Health and social services, Tourism and travel related services, Recreational, cultural and sporting services, Transport services, into the National Strategy and Action Plan;

xv. Recommend the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) mechanisms of the Strategy; Ensure quality, and timely delivery of the project outputs at national levels; and

xvi. Assist with any other ad-hoc requests within the context of the project

Qualifications/special skills

Academic Qualifications: Advanced university degree (Master's degree or above) in Economics, Law, International Trade, Development studies or related fields is desirable.

Experience: The candidate should have a minimum of seven (7) years of proven experience in trade policy formulation, trade in services, regional integration and development, the services sector or related areas in Botswana; Should have experience in planning and strategy development and the design of strategies for implementation of economic policies in Botswana; A proven record in producing technical reports is required. Familiarity with data analysis using statistical packages is an asset;

Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For this project, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS' BANK ACCOUNTS.

ccDVHb6-owT1v

This vacancy is archived.

Recommended for you