Prudence Sebahizi

Prudence Sebahizi is the Chief Technical Advisor on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Head of the AfCFTA Negotiations Support Unit, based in the Department of Trade and Industry, African Union Commission, since August 2016. He provides technical and Strategic advice to the AfCFTA Negotiating Institutions as well as to the Commissioner for Trade and Industry, on the AfCFTA Negotiations. He’s the overall coordinator of AfCFTA negotiations and coordinates a team of senior experts and advisors on various issues under negotiations. Prior to his appointment to this position, he led a team of experts who provided technical assistance and strategic guidance to strengthen the capacity of the African Union Commission (AUC), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to more effectively drive the AfCFTA preparatory process since 2015. He was the Lead Technical Advisor (LTA) to the Department of Trade and Industry of African Union Commission on the AfCFTA.

Between 2012 and 2014 he worked with Civil Society Organizations and prior to 2012, Prudence worked with the Government of Rwanda for more than 10 years in the areas of International Trade and Regional Integration and as Rwanda’s Chief Negotiator to the negotiations of the EAC Common Market Protocol since 2006. He was at the center of Rwanda’s accession to the East African Community (EAC) and he advised the government of Rwanda on Regional Integration while working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Office of the President and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation respectively. Prudence SEBAHIZI holds a Master’s Degree in International Development Policy from Seoul National University, South Korea.