Report on the first session of the Committee on Private Sector Development, Regional Integration, Trade, Infrastructure, Industry and Technology

Abstract

The first session of the Committee on Private Sector Development, Regional Integration, Trade, Infrastructure, Industry and Technology was held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa on 11 and 12 December 2019. The session was convened under the theme: “Private sector development and the digital economy in support of regional integration in Africa”. The session was preceded by a number of expert group meetings and workshops, including: an inception and methodology workshop on the tenth edition of Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA X); an expert group meeting to review a study on the interface between the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the regional economic communities’ free trade agreements and customs unions; an expert group meeting to review a study on harnessing emerging technologies for sustainable development; an expert group meeting to review a study on the possibility of a common investment area in AfCFTA; an expert group meeting to review a study on electricity regulation for private sector investment; and a validation workshop on the AfCFTA country business index.