Description of the award

1) Planned activities

The expert will undertake the following indicative activities, which may be refined in consultation with Expertise France and relevant Ethiopian stakeholders:

1. Review of Ethiopia's AfCFTA Services Commitments

• Review the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services, relevant annexes, modalities, decisions/guidelines and applicable schedules of specific commitments of Ethiopia.
• Identify Ethiopia's commitments in the five priority sectors of services: business services, communication services, financial services, transport services, and tourism services.
• Review commitments by relevant mode of supply and identify applicable conditions and limitations on market access and national treatment.
• Assess the state of implementation and identify areas where commitments have not yet been fully implemented.

2. Legal, Regulatory and Institutional Review

• To review relevant laws, regulations, policies, licensing requirements, administrative procedures and institutional mandates of Ethiopia that have an impact on trade in services.
• Assess the alignment of the national framework with Ethiopia's commitments under the CFTA and relevant transparency, market access and national treatment requirements.
• To review the role and coordination arrangements of institutions involved in trade in services, including the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration and relevant regulatory and other agencies.
• Identify regulatory overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies, procedural constraints, and institutional capacity issues that may affect implementation.

3. Assessment of trade in services and market access conditions

• To assess the practical conditions faced by Ethiopian service providers seeking to provide services in other African markets.
• I identify the main barriers that affect trade in services, including regulation, licensing, recognition, movement of service suppliers, information, and other constraints to market entry, depending on the scope of the review.
     
• Assess opportunities for Ethiopian service providers arising from the commitments made under the CFTA and identify sectors or sub-sectors with potential to increase intra-African trade.
     
• Where appropriate, examine the interaction between commitments on trade in services and related issues such as digitalisation, investment, labour mobility and mutual recognition.

4. Stakeholder consultations and validation

• Develop a stakeholder engagement plan covering relevant government institutions, regulators, private sector associations, service providers, professional bodies, and other stakeholders.
• Conduct interviews, focus group discussions, consultations, and/or targeted surveys to gather evidence on implementation challenges and opportunities.
• Validate emerging findings with relevant stakeholders and ensure that recommendations reflect institutional mandates and practical realities of implementation.
• F Facilitate a validation workshop to discuss results and agree on priority recommendations, as requested.

5. Development of implementation recommendations and action plan

• Prioritize identified gaps and constraints based on their importance, feasibility, and potential impact on AfCFTA trade in services.
• Develop practical recommendations for policy, legal, regulatory, institutional and administrative improvements.
• Develop a sequenced implementation action plan identifying priority actions, responsible institutions, indicative timelines and, where appropriate, resource or capacity needs.
• Identify areas where additional technical assistance, capacity building or stakeholder engagement may be needed.

6. Knowledge sharing and capacity building

• Present the findings and recommendations to Expertise France/ECOTRADE and relevant Ethiopian stakeholders.
• Provide practical advice to relevant institutions on the application of the AfCFTA implementation review approach to trade in services.
• Document key lessons and recommendations that can inform ECOTRADE's future support to the implementation of the AfCFTA.