National Consultant- Trade Expert - Liberia

Ultimate Result of Service • Improved access to trade and trade-related information for Liberian businesses, particularly MSMEs, women and youth traders, through a practical Step-by-Step Guide, enabling effective participation in trade under the AfCFTA; • Enhanced capacity of exporters and importers to follow clearly mapped and institutionally validated procedures covering tariff treatment, rules of origin, permits, standards, customs, logistics and border processes. • Government and private sector stakeholders have a shared, validated reference that strengthens regulatory transparency, institutional coordination and effective private sector participation in intra-African trade.

Work from home

5 months

Background The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has played a key role in supporting African countries throughout the negotiations leading to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). ECA is undertaking initiatives to support the implementation of the Agreement by member States, with a view to boosting intra-African trade and advancing structural economic transformation. Signed in March 2018, the AfCFTA Agreement entered into force in May 2019, and official trading under it commenced in January 2021. The AfCFTA is a central instrument of Africa’s integration agenda and is intended to support economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in alignment with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the African Union Agenda 2063. Liberia signed the AfCFTA Agreement in March 2018, ratified it in July 2023 and deposited its instrument of ratification in August 2024. Liberia has subsequently developed the National Strategy for the Implementation of the AfCFTA (2025-2030) with the support of the UNECA, which provides the national roadmap for operationalizing the Agreement, strengthening export readiness and competitiveness, improving trade facilitation, expanding market access, promoting value addition and regional value-chain participation, and ensuring that women, youth, persons with disabilities and MSMEs can benefit from continental trade. The private sector plays a vital role in AfCFTA implementation. Collaboration between Government and the private sector, including MSMEs and women- and youth- owned enterprises, is essential. Yet private sector engagement can be constrained by limited access to practical trade information, fragmented procedures, capacity gaps, standards and certification requirements, logistics constraints, and limited familiarity with AfCFTA rules of origin, tariff treatment and non-tariff barrier mechanisms. To support private sector engagement, ECA, through its African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), has developed a methodology for country-specific Step-by-Step Guides for Trading Goods under the AfCFTA. The guides serve as practical tools that clearly outline the regulatory and procedural requirements for exporting and importing goods under the Agreement. In response to an official request from the Government of the Republic of Liberia, ECA will recruit a national consultant to support the development of a Step-by-Step Guide for Trading Goods under the AfCFTA for Liberia. The Guide will be developed in close coordination with the Ministry of Commerce and relevant public and private sector stakeholders. Purpose of the Consultancy To recruit a national consultant to conceptualize, draft and finalise an AfCFTA Step-by-Step Guide for Trading Goods under the AfCFTA for Liberia. The guide will serve as a practical implementation tool for exporters, importers, MSEMs and women- and youth-owned enterprises. Objective To overarching objective of the assignment is to develop an accurate, practical, accessible and user-friendly Liberia Step-by-Step Guide for Trading Goods under the AfCFTA, aimed at supporting and strengthening the engagement of Liberia’s private sector in intra-Africa trade. The Guide will clearly outline the regulatory and procedural requirements applicable to trade in goods under the AfCFTA framework. This assignment will support the broader objective of promoting the effective and inclusive use of the AfCFTA Agreement, thereby helping to realize its intended benefits. Methodology The development of the Guide will rely on a triangulated methodology, combining desk research, primary data collection, and illustrative case studies to ensure both accuracy and usability: i) Desk Research: Desk research focusing on the AfCFTA Agreement and relevant national frameworks will be conducted. This includes examining Liberia’s trade-related legislation, customs regulations, regulatory procedures, institutional frameworks, and the country’s National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy. ii) Primary Data Collection: Information will be gathered from relevant government Ministries and agencies as well as selected businesses across different sectors within Liberia. This will be done through structured questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions. The objective is to capture the actual processes and requirements involved in exporting and importing goods under AfCFTA provisions. iii) Case Studies: Case studies documenting the concrete experiences of companies involved in actual import and export operations under the AfCFTA will also be included in the Guide. These cases will help illustrate practical challenges and opportunities, making the Guide more relatable and impactful for prospective users. Duties & Responsibilities The consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Director of the SRO-WA and the Acting Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division, in close collaboration with the assigned ECA Staff. At national level, the consultant will work under the direct supervision of an official designated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as the lead Government institution for trade policy and AfCFTA implementation. The tasks to be performed by the consultant include: 1) Engage with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Liberia Business Association and other stakeholders to assess the current state of Liberia’s trade policy, level of engagement in AfCFTA and its business environment; 2) Conduct research, guided by the Methodology with the support of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; 3) Analyze Liberia’s national trade policy, including the National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy, relevant legal and institutional frameworks, and the AfCFTA Agreement, including its Protocols, to inform the preparation of the Guide; 4) Collect and incorporate information from selected Liberian businesses representing priority sectors on their experience in exporting or importing goods. These inputs will be anonymized and integrated as illustrative case studies; 5) Develop a comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide, following the proposed structure and incorporating relevant national and AfCFTA-specific procedures; 6) Present the draft Guide at a stakeholder validation workshop organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; 7) Incorporate comments and inputs from ECA, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Liberia Business Association and validation workshop participants to revise the draft Guide; 8) Submit the final approved and publication-ready designed version of the Guide to ECA and Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Where necessary, review and support translation into other official languages to ensure accuracy and consistency; 9) Assist with other tasks directly related to the above as may be assigned by ECA and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or above) in economics, international trade, trade law, or related fields is required. A first-level university degree in a combination of additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the master's degree. A minimum of seven years of experience in trade-related research and/or analysis is required. Demonstrated expert knowledge of the AfCFTA, Liberia’s trade and economic policies, institutions and business environment, as well as demonstrated experience working in Liberia, is required. Experience in conducting and publishing interdisciplinary research in policy, economics and/or legal aspects of trade-led integration in Africa is highly desirable. Demonstrated strong analytical and report-writing skills are required.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in English is required.

Not available.

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.