News Editor
By Edwin Philip
Stakeholders in the West African subregion have identified numerous barriers inhibiting intra regional trades, freedom of goods and movement to facilitate the ease of doing business in line with the ECOWAS protocol, looking for ways to foster partnership, to enhance opportunities.
Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the day one of the West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) 2025, taking place at Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, the Minister of State Foreign Affairs, her Excellency Bianca Ojukwu, said the Federal Government under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has put in place a lot of policies to optimize business partnership to actuallise a national single window.
Saying that what the government wants is to promote intra regional trade amidst the restrictions despite existing protocol in place, which are freedom of goods, freedom of movement, ease of doing business, across the West African region.
” It is for this reason that he has brought together head of States and governance to be part of this legacy project, this is Mr president’s legacy this is the promise he made when he assumed the authority of the ECOWAS Head of States and government and today he has fulfilled his promise” she said
According to the Minister, the summit, is to create the momentum needed to ensure that trade across West African region is something that will promote the potential for economic prosperity harnessed diaspora and the youth.
She added that Africa has millions of youths who are capable of turning African work force around: ” We have to optimize businesses we have to digitatized, we have to ensure that they are given the skills requsite to our workforce, to contribute effectively to workforce, stimulate economic productivity, also to ensure that we are hopeful for the region expecially inline with the current realities”.
“We are now faced with the withdrawal of donor agencies, withdrawal of developmental partnership, the regional agencies is now not going to take it for granted that it got to be getting aids that period is over, so we have to find African solutions to African problems in line with best practices” she added.
Speaking on the Middle East crisis and the safety of Nigerians there, she said the federal government inline with citizen diplomacy objective is concern about the safety of Nigerians citizens presently residing in Iran and the State of Israel, and is doing everything possible to ensure that her citizens are not in peril, by putting everything in place to ensure that they are safely evacuated from conflict areas and to bring them back safely to their home country Nigeria.
On his part Dr. Tony Luka Elumelu, the Director Private Sector at the ECOWAS commission, said WAES, 2025 is remarkable and it is coming at the real time where it is mostly needed, saying that the emerging issues have brought the private sector into the lime light, as they are the key to things moving forward.
“Infact there was this onconscious attempt to relegate the private sector, without understanding their dynamic, their contributions to economic growth and integration, but there is awakening and I thank the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for refocusing and bringing into limelight the sector with particular focus on the SMEs, when am talking about the SMEs you know that the are the backbone of of our regional integration, beyond that one economic growth, the private sector also plays the role of the engine of any economy and also the oil of the economy, so they play that dual role, it is important that we know that” he stated.
Profering solutions to trade challenges among West African countries, he said that the key element that should be taken into cognizance is the investment flow from the ECOWAS region the need for a legal instruments like investment code, to enhance mobility of investment in the region, foreign direct investment and local investment.
Adding that investment promotion agency in is place in West Africa, strengthening their capacities, to be able to ensure that the countries work together,to get the investment that is needed in the region, within and outside, which will lead to job creation that is needed for economic growth and integration.
” It is very important, in ECOWAS we have created one of the best platforms for them to talk to each other, one of the best initiative to ensure that we have coalition of SMEs so that ,the regional chambers of commerce, the peak of it is that ECOWAS is at the verge of finalizing what we call ECOWAS business council, and the president of the commission has also asked Excellency Dangote to lead that process and he graciously accepted that I think it is a step in the right direction” he added.
Speaking also, the Managing Director of Sterling Bank limited, Mr Abubarkar Sulaiman, who was one of the panellists at the high-level panel on Intra-West Africa Trade and AfCFTA implementation, said if trade across border increased, the government of the various countries must feel very comfortable in their own reforms, and convince that their reforms will make them competitive, as countries that think that they cannot reform are likely to put barriers for trade but once they start to reform and see that it will benefit them, they will encourage trade, as institutional reforms in the various member countries is key, and without that trade will be very difficult.
” I think the political authorities should within West Africa should accelerate the adoption of the West African payment and settlement system within their countries because the technology behind it , the frame work behind it, the agreement behind it is very powerful, what is left now is the last mile adoption, currently a lot of banks are integrating into the system, we now need a campaign to encourage small businesses to start using it, because alot of them are not aware that this option exists which will then drive some of the singular payments system across the continent” he said.
According to him, Sterling Bank is fully integrated into the Pan African payment and settlement system and are currently employing it to their digital banking applications, small businesses and even individuals who have the payment application across borders can use it, as a lot of banks are doing the same, adding in a couple of days they will be a formal unvailing and they will demonstrate how it works.
The West Africa Economic Summit 2025, with the theme “Unlocking Trade and Investment Opportunities in the Region.” Day , featured , keynotes from regional leader, high-level panel discussion, Insights, debates, deal room and Exclusive West Africa Art Exhibition, with Minister, Head of States and their representatives and other delegates across the region and some notable international organizations.
