By Fatou Bojang
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, and Employment organised a national consultation workshop in The Gambia to discuss the Annex on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Digital Trade 2.0.
The workshop, scheduled for Tuesday at Metzy Residence Hotel, aims to gather national input and positions on various critical topics, including rules of origin, legitimacy in source code requests, online safety, cross-border data transfer, and financial technology.
The director of trade Ousman Bojang, highlighted the importance of the digital trade protocol for enhancing The Gambia’s role in international trade, underscoring the necessity of stakeholder consultations to align national interests.
Director Bojang thanked participants for their contributions to e-commerce projects and emphasised the need for a unified national stance during upcoming negotiations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Solo Gheran Sanyang, principal ITC officer and focal person for Digital Trade, pointed out that implementing the digital trade protocol is expected to diversify trade and strengthen resilience against disruptions, such as those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He mentioned that the workshop focused on gathering stakeholder feedback on eight annexes related to the protocol, detailing processes for requesting source code from private companies.
The information technology officer at the Gambia Competition and Consumer Protection Alliance, GCCPC Musa Darboe, noted that discussions during the meeting reviewed the annexes aligned with the commission’s mandate to promote cross-border digital trade, facilitating trading and payments while enhancing digital inclusion.
He emphasised the importance of ensuring that any annexes unfavourable to The Gambia would be addressed to comply with the nation’s laws and benefit its people before returning to the negotiation table.
This workshop represents a crucial step for The Gambia, as member states are called to provide their inputs to the AfCFTA Secretariat, initiating collaborative efforts to enhance the country’s digital trade landscape.
