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Digital event: African continental integration, trade agreements, and the EU: synergies and challenges

On 26th May 2021 at 10:00 CET, the Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission organises a webinar on the African continental integration, trade agreements and the EU. It is part of a series conceived with the twin objectives of allowing attendees to reflect strategically on EU-Africa trade and investment policy; and strengthening working relations between the European Commission services and technical experts and critical influencers in Africa.

This webinar convenes a technical discussion between EU and AU trade specialists, and is opened to certain non-state actors. It will aim at addressing some prospective questions such as the relationship between the EU’s trade agreements with African countries and regions and African economic integration and the AfCFTA. It will mainly focus on the linkages between the AfCFTA and the EPAs, but will also explore ways to achieve more coherence between EU’s approach towards sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa with a view of fostering integration across the continent. There may also be experience of EPA and FTA implementation to be shared, and the webinar may assess how this may be relevant for AfCFTA implementation.

Specific objectives include:
• provide initial answers to the question of existing synergies and challenges around the different agreements;
• consider the linkages between African economic integration and bilateral/regional African trade agreements with non-African countries, especially the EU;
• deepen understanding of the potential building blocks of the AfCFTA, including such bilateral/regional trade agreements; and
• explore the relative contribution that EU trade policy can make to African economic integration and the AfCFTA.

If you want to attend the webinar, register here.