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The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has called on her colleague Ministers of Trade and Industry in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to expedite the harmonisation of standards to facilitate trade in goods and services across the sub-region.
That, she said, was because the lack of uniform standards and regulations continued to create unnecessary trade barriers, hinder the movement of goods and services, and limit the competitiveness of businesses within West Africa.
She made the call during the 4th Joint Meeting of ECOWAS Ministers of Trade and Industry, held in Abuja, Nigeria, from Thursday, May 15 to Friday, May 16, this year.
The meeting, which was convened in line with the sub-region’s desire to promote intra-regional trade and spur economic growth, focused on key multilateral, continental, regional, and bilateral trade issues.
These included the outcome of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), the status of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), bilateral trade relations, and a draft Cooperation Agreement between the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) and Member States on implementing competition and consumer protection rules within ECOWAS intra-African trade.
Touching on infrastructural and logistics support to enhance the movement of goods and services across the region, the Trade Minister emphasised the need for a joint meeting between the Ministers of Trade & Industry and Ministers of Transport.
“Our inability to address this as a matter of urgency would undermine the efforts of the private sector in deepening our bilateral trade,” she said.
The Chairperson of the 4th Joint Meeting of the ECOWAS Ministers of Trade and Industry, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, who is the sector minister for Nigeria, added that the presence of her colleague ministers demonstrated the collective commitment of sector ministers to advancing regional integration, fostering industrial development and enhancing trade within the community.
Speaking on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission, Toure-Litse reaffirmed the commitment of the commission to continue to promote and accelerate the implementation of economic integration programmes at regional and continental levels.
Those, she said, included issues related to the elimination of trade barriers, improvement of regional quality infrastructure, as well as the implementation of various regional initiatives to promote regional value chains and investment.
Speaking on behalf of the President of WAEMU Commission, Dr Paul Koffi Koffi, emphasised that WAEMU was fully committed to working alongside ECOWAS to address the common challenges confronting the sub-region.
Senator John Owan Enoh, who represented the Nigerian government, expressed the hope that the recommendations from the meeting would address issues related to industrial development and the improvement of intra-regional trade.
Ghana was represented at the Experts’ Meeting by Kofi Addo and Stella Akosua Ansah, both Chief Commercial Officers at the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry; Yao Fechin Akoto of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and Diana A. Amponsah of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).
Commenting on the reports by the senior experts, Ms Ofosu-Adjare indicated that 50 years of ECOWAS should spur member countries to reflect on the modest achievements made and chart a new course for the years ahead.
The Trade Minister said one of the key tenets of ECOWAS was economic empowerment, and current geopolitical realignment, trade disruptions affecting supply chains, coupled with global inflationary trends, posed a major challenge to the region.
However, she contended that as Ministers of Trade, that was an opportune time to reset regional trade imbalances by taking advantage of AfCFTA and other market access.
Ms Ofosu-Adjare stated that AfCFTA had the potential to transform Africa’s economy with a projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of seven per cent or $45 billion by 2035 and to boost
