Addressing the Policy Disconnect of Services Trade: What a Development-Friendly Services Liberalization under the AfCFTA Should Consider

This chapter undertakes an assessment of services trade policy assessment in Africa in the light of ongoing liberalization of services trade in the AfCFTA and RECs FTAs. First, it couches concepts of services, services trade and services trade policy prior to discussing the evolution of services trade policy in the African continent and makes a case for its importance in Africa’s development. The chapter then looks at the importance, trends, evidence and opportunities of services trade policy in Africa and proposes a framework for mapping policy, highlighting the various levels where policy disconnects may exist at the various policy levels in Africa. The chapter also explores how regional approaches could help bridge these disconnects in the current services policy landscape at the subregional and pan-African levels. It then proposes elements that need to be prioritized in services negotiations and implementation of the AfCFTA and other existing RECs with FTAs containing a services chapter, to ensure greater policy consistency and coherence so that the developmental gains of services trade which may be expected from regional integration may be realized.