Beatrice Chaytor is an international trade lawyer, called to the Bar in England and Wales as well as Sierra Leone, with around 30 years’ experience in providing advice and support to NGO’s, governments and intergovernmental organisations on trade and investment legal and policy issues. She is currently Head of Division – Trade in Services in the Directorate of Trade in Services, Investment, IPRs and Digital Trade at the AfCFTA Secretariat, based in Accra, and prior to this was Senior Expert- Trade in Services in the Department of Trade and Industry at the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, working on the negotiations for the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Beatrice has previously served as Director of Policy in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Sierra Leone, and as Programme Director for the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development in London. She has undertaken assignments for DFID, the European Union Commission, and the UN FAO.
Beatrice is interested in research and analysis on a range of economic policy issues affecting Africa. She also has private sector interests in fintech, agribusiness, textiles and garments, and the creative industries.