EPA Review Annex Documents - DFID

• Skills
The EPA negotiating team has only eight officials, six have basic degrees in social
sciences and business administration, two have additional degrees in law and one a
higher degree in political science. None has an economics degree. All staff have been
exposed to different on-the-job training through short trade policy related workshops
within and outside the country, with some at the level of the WTO through the regional
trade policy course mounted for three months per year.
Table 2 Structure of Nigeria’s Department of Trade and Staffing
Section Number of staff Number in Abuja Share of Total
Director’s Office 5 100% 2.3%
Bilateral 14 100% 6.5%
Multilateral 9 100% 4.1%
Intra-Africa 8 100% 3.7%
UNCTAD 7 100% 3.2%
WTO 28 a 78.6% 12.9.%
Trade Promotion 43 100% 19.8%
TIC&P 3 100% 1.4%
Weights and Measures 91 17.6% 41.9%
SCUML 9 100% 4.1%
TOTAL: 217 100%
Source: Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Abuja, 2009; ‘a’ includes six staff at the
WTO office: 1 Ambassador, 3 Counsellors, 1 Accountant and 1 Secretary.
• Earnings
The average monthly salary range of the members of staff of the intra-Africa unit is
between grade levels 7 ($248) and 13 ($545). The EPA team does not yet have an
external adviser on the EPA negotiations, while it has four external national consultants
who do not receive any compensation except when they are involved in conducting
EPA-related studies, which are paid by donor organisations mainly DFID Nigeria and to
a little extent the ECOWAS Commission. Their travel costs and per diems are also
reimbursed by these organisations.
Table 3 Resource Detail of Intra-Africa Section
Resource Magnitude
Number of Staff 8
Number with Law Degree 2
Average Salary range GL07-GL13
Number of Advisers 0
Number of External Advisors (Consultants) 4
Part of Ministry's budget spent on trade Negotiation $21,500
Sources: a) Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Abuja, 2009; b) Key In-depth Interview;
c) Federal Budget, 2008
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