‘Let’s respect ECOWAS protocols’
The Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Seyi Onafowokan, has called on ECOWAS member states to address challenges confronting trade within the region to increase trading among them.
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Mr Onafowokan said the increasing trade between the West African sub-region, with the Americas, Europe and the East as against an intra-regional trade was having a negative impact on the region, which should be reversed.
“The trade trend, no doubt, is impacting negatively on individual and collective socio-economic development of ECOWAS member states as the abundant resources (natural and human) are practically being transferred to the developed world of the West and East to further develop their respective economies, generating employment for their people and pauperising our sub-region. Posterity will ask us questions we may not be able or not around to answer,” ambassador Onafowokan observed.
He was delivering the keynote address last Wednesday at the Nigeria Day held as part of the ongoing 7th ECOWAS Trade Fair.
The 12-day fair is being hosted by Ghana on the theme: “Regional Integration through Trade”. The trade fair is featuring over 450 businesses from West African states, as well as visitor countries, with interest in the sub-region.
The Nigerian day lived up to expectation as a fun-filled event, with one serious delivery aptly followed by humorous acts from either the master of ceremonies, a trade expert with a soft side, or an up and coming stand-up comedian, who was brought along to showcase what was perhaps Nigeria’s new ‘non-traditional export product’, comedy.
Intra-African trade
Intra-African trade is estimated at about 12.8 per cent with the rest of the trade occurring between America, Europe and now Asia.
Nigeria with a population of 167 million holds about 60 per cent of ECOWAS total productivity also known as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Its non-oil exports totalled US$2.56 billion out of which only US$312.48 million worth of exports, representing 12.2 per cent, went to intra-community trade in 2012.
This illustrates the need to scale up trading among West African countries. But first, several challenges need scaling over.
Challenges to intra-regional trade
There is inadequate investment in infrastructure, such as rail, marine and air transportation, to facilitate the carriage of goods between the borders.
The deficiency in the sector makes it worthwhile to import or export to and from far away countries such as America or in Europe or Asia rather than doing business with a West African neighbour such as Senegal or The Gambia.
“While it will take about three weeks to conclude such transaction with the former, it may take about four months with the latter as there is no direct cargo ship movement between member states,” Mr Onafowokan stressed.
Exporter experiences
His observation typifies a concern raised by a Nigerian industrialist and exporter within West Africa, Mr Raymond Ejike, who said for a month, his company, N. N. Firms in Nigeria, could not trace a consignment of products on truck enroute to Ghana.
The high commissioner called for political will and respect for all ECOWAS protocols on trade and free movement of goods and people.
“Companies and products that are registered under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) are made to pay import duties. Similarly, goods and people travelling through the land borders are made to face extremely difficult and in some cases impossible situations,” the ambassador lamented.
To escape some of these challenges on the land borders, the Nigerian Export Promotions Council (NEPC), which sponsored 52 exhibitors to the Ghana Fair, had to airlift over 4,000 tonnes of goods at a high cost of N390 (about US$2.5) per tonne to Ghana. This translates to about US$10,000.
Daily Graphic/Ghana