AfCFTA Trade Policy Youth Corps

CTG overview:

• CTG staff and support humanitarian projects in fragile and conflict-affected countries around the world, providing a rapid and cost-effective service for development and humanitarian missions. With past performance in 17 countries – from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia, we have placed more than 20,000 staff all over the world since operations began in 2006.
• CTG recruits, deploys and manages the right people with the right skills to implement humanitarian and development projects, from cleaners to obstetricians, and mechanics to infection specialists, we’re skilled in emergency response to crises such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Key to successful project delivery is the ability to mobilise at speed; CTG can source and deploy anyone, anywhere, in less than 2 weeks and have done so in 48 hours on a number of occasions.
• Through our efficient and agile HR, logistical and operational services, CTG saves multilateral organisations time and money. We handle all our clients’ HR related issues, so they are free to focus on their core services.
• Visit www.ctg.org to find out more

Overview of position:

• The AfCFTA Secretariat is the sole organization in the continent, legally established & mandated to handle the rules of trade between African countries. At the core is the implementation of the agreement establishing the AfCFTA, negotiated, signed & ratified by the state parties. The goal is to ensure that trade is conducted smoothly, predictably & as freely as possible across the continent. The AfCFTA Secretariat, which is headquartered in Accra – Ghana at the Africa Trade House, was established in February 2020 following the election of its 1st Secretary General.
• The agreement establishing the African continental free trade area was signed at an extraordinary session of the assembly of the AU in Kigali, Rwanda on 21 March 2018. The agreement sets out a continental system of trade rules, acts as a platform for negotiating trade protocols, facilitates the settlement of disputes between state parties & monitors the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement. Furthermore, the AfCFTA agreement is a framework agreement, with comprehensive coverage of trade in goods, trade in services, investment, competition policy, intellectual property rights, women, youth in trade & digital trade as well as rules & procedures for the settlement of disputes.
• The youth are central to the successful implementation of the AfCFTA, both as beneficiaries & drivers. The AfCFTA Trade Policy Youth Corps promotes volunteering to deepen the status of young people in Africa as key participants in the implementation of the AfCFTA. It brings people together to share skills, knowledge, creativity & learning to build a more integrated continent.
• The overall objective of the AfCFTA Trade Policy Youth Corps is as follows:
• Engage Africa’s youth in the formulation, negotiation & implementation of trade agreements.
• Provide opportunities to young Africans to serve, gain crucial professional experience, capacity in trade policy formulation, negotiation, implementation at national, regional & continental levels
• Promote pan Africanism & shared values among the upcoming generation.
• It is against this background that the AfCFTA Secretariat seeks to engage the services of young Africans to support trade policy formulation, negotiation & implementation processes on the continent at the AfCFTA Secretariat.

Role objectives:
The AfCFTA Trade Policy Youth Corps to support trade policy formulation, negotiation & implementation processes of the continent will work directly under the supervision of the Senior Advisor (Technical) to the Secretary General on the following tasks, among others:

• Undertake analytical studies on key trade policy areas of the AfCFTA agreement.
• Develop an e-notification mechanism for state parties & non state parties to notify new measures.
• Develop templates for monitoring 3rd party trade agreements.
• Support the design of sensitization & awareness campaigns to create awareness of the AfCFTA.
• Support the design & organization of annual AfCFTA youth trade link.
• Perform any other duties as may be required from time to time.

Project reporting:

• This assignment will be carried out under the supervision of the Senior Advisor (Technical) in the Office of the Secretary General.
• Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to provide the services.
• The eligibility criteria, establishment of a shortlist & selection procedure shall be in conformity with our clients procurement rules & procedures.

Key competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, International Trade or Trade Law, International Relations, Administration, Management, Finance or any other field that is related to the work of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
• The applicant has to have at least 1 year verifiable volunteering experience or one year professional work experience.
• Be able to multi task.
• Ability to learn varying new tasks.
• Fast paced.
• Capacity to communicate fluently with different stakeholders (civil society, govt. authorities, local communities, project staff).
• Full command of MS applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) & common internet applications will be required.
• Proficiency in one of the AfCFTA working languages (French, English, Portuguese, Arabic).
• Fluency in another AfCFTA working language(s) is an added advantage.
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Secretariat’s values & ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission & strategic goals of Secretariat.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, age sensitivity & adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity & zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Team management:

• This role has no team management responsibility.

Further information:

• Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply for this role.
• The AfCFTA Trade Policy Youth Corps will be based in Accra, with travels to the member states.
• The duration of the assignment will be 230 days.