Workshop for AU-CFTA Trade in Services Negotiators ends

The Training Workshop on Trade in Services Negotiations for AU-CFTA Negotiators ended late last week in Dakar, Senegal.

At the conclusion of the week-long workshop, participants were presented with certificates of achievement by members of Senegal's Ministry of Trade.

Presentations were given by representatives from the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations (U.N.) Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (TRALAC), International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP) and member states.

Trade negotiators from 28 African Union (AU) and Francophone (those nations whose populations speak English and French) nations turned out for the workshop.

During the workshop, attendees learned how to conduct trade negotiations to benefit their regions and Africa as a whole. Also discussed were ways to prepare for the upcoming Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) Negotiations on Services, which are expected to take place in 2017.

Areas of focus also included best practices for negotiating services in regional trade agreements, labor mobility and an overview of what African Union Commission frameworks will mean for CFTA.