I.      Description of the assignment

 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

o   Review the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services, relevant annexes, modalities, decisions/directives and Ethiopia’s applicable Schedules of Specific Commitments.

o   Map Ethiopia’s commitments across the five priority services sectors: business, communication, financial, transport and tourism services.

o   Review the commitments by relevant modes of supply and identify applicable market access and national treatment conditions and limitations.

o   Assess the status of implementation and identify areas where commitments have not yet been fully operationalized.

 2. Legal, regulatory and institutional review

o   Review relevant Ethiopian laws, regulations, policies, licensing requirements, administrative procedures and institutional mandates affecting trade in services.

o   Assess the alignment of the domestic framework with Ethiopia’s AfCFTA commitments and relevant transparency, market access and national treatment requirements.

o   Review the roles and coordination arrangements of institutions involved in trade in services, including the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration and relevant sector regulators and agencies.

o   Identify regulatory overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies, procedural constraints and institutional capacity issues that may affect implementation.

3. Assessment of services trade and market access conditions

•        Assess the practical conditions faced by Ethiopian services suppliers seeking to supply services in other African markets.
•   I identify key barriers affecting services trade, including regulatory, licensing, recognition, movement of service suppliers, information and other market entry constraints, as relevant to the scope of the review.
•      Assess opportunities for Ethiopian services suppliers arising from AfCFTA commitments and identify sectors or subsectors with potential for increased intra-African trade.
•     Where relevant, consider the interaction between services trade commitments and related issues such as digitalization, investment, professional mobility and mutual recognition.

 4. Stakeholder consultations and validation

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

5. Development of implementation recommendations and action plan

•         Prioritize identified gaps and constraints according to their significance, feasibility and potential impact on AfCFTA services trade.
•       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 requirements.
•       Identify areas were additional technical assistance, capacity building or stakeholder engagement may be required.

 6. Knowledge sharing and capacity building

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