Vacancy No: 097 

The Project
Support to ECOWAS African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

• The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has become a major focus for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its member states. They are working to leverage their achievements at the regional level to negotiate and implement the AfCFTA in the most beneficial way possible.
• The ECOWAS Commission plays a major role in preparing the operational instruments of the AfCFTA, such as common rules of origin and joint digital payment system and is also participating in some aspects of the negotiations on behalf of the member states. It is important for ECOWAS to coordinate and harmonize its initiatives and efforts with the continental trade agenda. The GIZ AfCFTA project is supporting the ECOWAS Commission in these efforts, as well as in the implementation of the AfCFTA at the national level.
• Successful implementation of the AfCFTA in the ECOWAS region requires a modern unified legal framework for cross-border trade, detailed implementation guidelines and accompanying measures, good cooperation among member countries, and active partnerships with the private sector.
• In recent years, regional cooperation has intensified through ECOWAS, particularly in the areas of trade facilitation and common customs legislation. Nevertheless, the institutional and regulatory framework in the ECOWAS region is currently not sufficiently in place for the successful negotiation and implementation of the AfCFTA.
• The support project to ECOWAS toward AfCFTA implementation is funded by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and aims at supporting ECOWAS Commission and the Member States toward developing/ instituting credible framework conditions for effective and beneficial implementation of AfCFTA protocols.
• The project directly addresses the required improvements in terms of the quality of ECOWAS Member States’ participation in the AfCFTA negotiations, the design of the legal and technical framework, and the design of implementation measures in Member States. This entails intervention at different levels: ECOWAS Commission, Member States institutions and the private sector.

Tasks

• Lead strategic planning, monitoring and self-evaluation of the trade facilitation and trade in services component.
• Provision of technical advisory services to ECOWAS Commission, especially the trade directorate and other relevant directorates.
• Responsible for cooperation related to trade in services and trade facilitation with other international organizations such as World Customs Organization, ITC, UNCTAD amongst others.
• Oversee different component activities to be agreed and implemented in close cooperation with partners.
• Coordination with other program components, EAT, MOVE and other projects and units (HQ, regional departments and country offices).
• Representing the component and the project, where relevant, vis- a-vis partners, donors etc.
• Oversight responsibility for communication and visibility aspects of the component and support same for the entire project.
• Budget planning and monitoring with the AV, finance colleagues and other relevant staff.
• Ensure management of the component and measures and of all the related activities such as the management of subcontractors or consultant assignments, in consultation with the Head of Programme.

Required Qualifications, Competence and Experience
Qualifications:

• Masters Degree in International Trade, Law, International Relations, Economics, Business Administration, or a related field.

Professional experience:

• Minimum of 8 years’ working experience in international trade or regional economic integration with special focus on Africa
• Experience working with ECOWAS Commission and its Member States.
• Experience working in and implementing European Union funded projects is required.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, youth and women groups and the private sector in ECOWAS Member States.
• Experience in interagency coordination, managing diverse interests of multiple stakeholders in different ECOWAS countries.

Other knowledge, additional competences:

• Good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software, phone, fax, email, the internet) and computer applications (e.g. MS Office).
• Good management and organisational skills.

Salary
According to GIZ Salary Scale for Band 5.