A new report titled “Made by Africa: Creating Value through Integration”, was released by the International Trade Centre (ITC) during the African Union Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification in Niamey, held in Niger from 20 to 25 November 2022 at the Africa Industrialization Week. The report, elaborated in close collaboration with the African Union Commission and the European Commission, identifies 94 value chains where African countries have a comparative advantage or high export potential that can spur industrialization. Among them, pharmaceuticals, baby food, cotton clothing and automotives are indicated as the most promising.

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The Appendix I to the Annex 2 on Rules of Origin of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on trade in goods states in the notes for completing an AfCFTA certificate of origin that an exporter’s registration number “should” be inserted (this term indicates that it is not mandatory), “where applicable”, in the Box 1 of such certificate. The AfCFTA manual on Rules of Origin, despite mentioning in its introduction that one of its objectives is to provide guidelines on the registration of exporters, does not give any indications about how this process should be conducted. In this situation of confusion, some African countries have introduced a specific “AfCFTA exporter’s registration number” as a condition to apply for an AfCFTA certificate of origin - and therefore as a condition to trade under the AfCFTA - while others allow exporters to use their ordinary exporter’s registration number in the box No 1 of the certificate. Other, again, do not require any exporter’s registration number to be indicated in the form. Which one is the best solution?

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