The ECOWAS Commission is implementing programmes aimed at developing a competitive, dynamic and diversified regional economy that would be preferred by investors, Vice President of the Commission, Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh, has said.
“Key programmes and activities being implemented include the development of a Community Investment Code, organisation of a bi-annual ECOWAS Common Investment Market, the development of a framework and system to monitor the regional investment climate and a regional trade agreement and cooperation with emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil,” he stated.
Dr. McIntosh was speaking at the Fifth West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ) Trade Ministers’ Forum in Accra under the theme, “Building the Capacity of ECOWAS Member States towards the Free Movement of Goods and Services Across Borders.”
Dr. McIntosh said: “With commitment and the requisite political support, we can improve on intra-ECOWAS and WAMZ trade and hence reduce the high level of unemployment and poverty in our region.”
He observed that there are still some challenges militating against the effective implementation of trade- integration policies and programmes in West Africa.
The key challenges, he said, include weak production capacity, low level of intra-regional trade and product diversification, inadequate power and water supply, poor conditions of transit routes, and ineffective implementation of ECOWAS trade and trade-related protocols.
Mr. John Tei Kitcher, acting Director-General of the West Africa Monetary Institute (WAMI) in a speech read on his behalf, said that deeper trade integration in the WAMZ and ECOWAS could reduce the unemployment rate in member states.
He indicated that both production and consumer demands of the free, large market of the ECOWAS region could spur competition, lower cost of production, create jobs and generate revenue for economic development.
“It is our hope that implementing a trade-facilitation support project will enable deeper trade integration in the WAMZ and ECOWAS,” Mr. Kitcher said.
Ms. Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, advised ECOWAS members to authorise the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) to develop Terms of Reference and a Governance Structure to operationalise the concept of a Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).
Ms. Tetteh said due to issues surrounding the implementation of the ETLS, Trade Ministers at the Second Ministers’ Forum held in 2009 proposed the establishment of an ECOWAS Standing Committee on the Scheme.
She said the Committee was established to ensure integrity in the application of the Scheme.
The ETLS is the main ECOWAS operational tool for promoting the West Africa region as a Free Trade Area.
The Scheme also seeks to establish a common market through the liberalisation of trade by the abolition of customs duties levied on imports and exports and the removal of non-tariff barriers among member states.
The ETLS is to encourage entrepreneurial development in the region, increase intra-regional trade and boost economic activity, augment West African competitiveness on the global market as well as increase the Gross Domestic Product of member states.
Ms. Tetteh said the ECOWAS region could set up a Corridor Transit Agency to ensure free flow of transit consignments without compromising the national security of member states.
She expressed optimism that the Forum would be used to agree on strategies to resolve differences in trade relations among member states and to fashion out innovative ideas to enhance trade integration in ECOWAS
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