La CEA recrute 01 Consultant to support regional policy on e-commerce for Central Africa

Vacance de poste

Intitulé publication : RITD/ATPC – Consultant to support regional policy on e-commerce for Central Africa

Département / Bureau : Commission économique pour l’Afrique

Lieu d’affectation : ADDIS ABABA

Période de candidature :  04 novembre 2021

No de l’appel á candidature : 21-Economic Commission for Africa-164743-Consultant

Staffing Exercise N/A

Valeurs fondamentales de l’ONU : intégrité, professionnalisme, respect de la diversité

Result of Service

A more inclusive trade policy making process and higher returns from trade for African countries and increased capacity of African private sector to take better advantage of preferential trade agreements/arrangements

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

The duration of the contract is for a period of Five(5) months .

Duties and Responsibilities

The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), through the Regional Integration & Trade Division, is a specialized unit within the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its mission is to act as the leading Africa-based Centre of excellence and a continental hub for providing and coordinating technical support for the development of trade policies in Africa.

The ATPC is implementing a project to build capacity of both the public and private sector stakeholders in African countries to better use preferential trade agreements and arrangements to reach their development aspirations. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the enhancement of intra-African trade and the share of Africa in global trade through inclusive, sustainable and development-friendly trade reforms.

In the first phase of the project a series of research papers were developed. These papers gathered primary survey and interview data virtually in 2020 and were designed to provide new answers to some of the critical challenges to how African traders use preferential trading regimes in Africa. In the second phase of this project, the content of these papers was incorporated into the development of capacity building short courses. The third phase of this project aims to provide technical assistance at the request of specific countries or regional economic communities to translate research and capacity building into policy action.

The objective of this assignment is to develop an inclusive policy on e-commerce for the Economic Community of Central African States. The Policy will mainstream and encourage gender-balanced, youth and MSME participation.

Key features of the policy will include assessing and advising strategically on steps that can be taken to improve the environment for digital payments, Internet connectivity, postal quality, and digital skills, with considering the different stages of e-readiness of the constituent country members of ECCAS. It will consider and build on the existing environment of regional model laws concerning cyber security and the protection of private data in ECCAS, align with African Union digitalization strategies, and related initiatives, such as the Smart Africa project.

Duties and responsibilities:

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of a nominated officer of the Economic Community of Central African States and the Lead Project Consultant, with overall guidance of the Coordinator of ATPC, and the Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division and the Commissioner in charge of Common Market, Economic, Monetary and Financial Affairs of the ECCAS Commission.

The scope of the policy will be refined in close collaboration with the direction of ECCAS, but will indicatively comprise the following:

(a) Situational Analysis identifying the prevailing legal framework for e-commerce in the ECCAS countries, the supporting players (including Smart Africa and the African Alliance for Electronic Commerce), and accounting for the different stages of e-readiness of the constituent countries of ECCAS, and prioritizing inclusivity and equity dimensions

(b) Strategic Objectives to be prioritized during the life of the policy

(c) Plan of Actions and/or interventions needed to achieve the policy objectives, including how they will be achieved, by whom, by when, with what resources, with what monitoring, and to what target or performance level. This plan of actions will include a Regional Cooperation Project for the Development of Electronic Commerce by clarifying the role of ECCAS, the Governments of Member States, the private sector and other partners in the implementation of the adopted policy

(d) Institutional structures, roles and responsibilities, communication and reporting processes required as part of the implementation of the policy. Particularly attention is to be given to the demarcation of responsibilities between governments, the private sector, and ECCAS as a regional economic community.

(e) Resource mobilization plan, identifying appropriate government, REC and donor resources that can realistically be aligned with implementing actions under the policy.

In order to achieve the abovementioned policy, the Consultant will perform the following key tasks:

1: Undertake a scoping study to inform the preparation of the inclusive policy, including proposed outline for the policy. Feedback will be provided on this by ECCAS and ATPC for guidance.

2: Organize national/regional stakeholder consultative meeting to present scoping study and ascertain priorities for the policy, and carryout additional interviews with relevant government, private sector, civil society and development partner stakeholders. ECCAS will assist the Consultant in identifying national level focal points for the purpose of such interviews and consultations.

3: Draft the inclusive policy.

4: Organize validation meeting to be attended by key stakeholders and finalize the inclusive policy based on the feedback received from the meeting

The consultant will deliver on the key tasks through collaborating closely with ECCAS and receiving direction and overall guidance from ECCAS.

Qualifications/special skills

Academic Qualifications : Master’s degree in Economics, Business, International Trade, International Relations, International Law and/or related areas is required.

Experience: A minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience working in the areas of international trade law, statistics, development economics and qualitative and quantitative research, is required. Experience on the African continent and in-depth knowledge of the thematic topic of the short courses is desirable.

Language: English and French are the working language of the UN Secretariat. For this specific job opening fluency in English and French is required

Aucun frais de dossier

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.