A Ghanaian lawmaker has issued a stark warning to West African leaders, urging them to stop paying “lip service” to the long-standing ECOWAS protocol on free movement of goods and services, as entrepreneurs across the region continue to face crippling trade barriers.
Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, Second Rapporteur on the Committee on Administration, Finance and Budget, made the remarks during a joint delocalised committee meeting in Cotonou, Benin, focused on empowering Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as drivers of regional value chains.
His comments came after a field visit to LES JUS TILLOU, a pineapple juice factory where the owner detailed the bureaucratic hurdles she faces exporting products within West Africa — while trading with Canada and Europe remains comparatively smooth.
‘It’s a Laughing Matter’
“It is really unfortunate to have this business lady say it is better to export her pineapple juice to Canada and Europe without challenges than to do that within our own member states,” Bedzrah said in an interview.
“It’s sad that we are not living up to our own words as a sub-regional bloc. Our own standards — we cannot live by them?”
The factory, built by entrepreneur Madam Guedegbe Marcos with a nearly 4 billion CFA loan from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), now requires an additional 1 billion CFA for expansion and packaging. Yet, despite high demand from both West African and Western markets, regional trade barriers are stifling growth.
According to Bedzrah, the situation is particularly dire for trade with Ghana and Nigeria.
“She mentioned she cannot send her products to Ghana and Nigeria. Ghana is the worst — the challenges she has to go through. We need to do something seriously to be able to trade among ourselves,” he lamented.
‘Close Down ECOWAS’
The lawmaker did not mince words about the stakes involved.
“If we are an economic zone and we cannot trade among ourselves, we better close down ECOWAS and trade with our former colonial masters,” he said.
He called on Trade Ministers across the region to begin visiting factories owned by West African citizens and address their challenges first-hand.
“Our Heads of States must walk the talk for us to have free movement of goods and services. It’s sad that we cannot trade among ourselves, yet we use hard-earned currencies to import goods from outside the sub-region,” Bedzrah added.
“It is becoming a laughing matter for ECOWAS to be in existence.” Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah
The delocalised meeting, which brought together committees on Industry and Private Sector, Macroeconomic Policy, Economic Research, Administration, Finance, Budget, and Public Accounts, continues its deliberations in Cotonou this week.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/EcowasNewsOnlinegh.com
