By Binta Jaiteh
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and partners Thursday held a meeting aimed at strengthening regional trade, improving market access and enhancing the competitiveness of businesses across West Africa.
The meeting which brought together representatives of ECOWAS, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), European Union, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and other stakeholders had a theme on the Africa Trade Competitiveness and Market Access Programme (ATCMA-ECOWAS).
Speaking at the event, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr. Kalilou Sylla, said the programme was intended to support greater regional trade integration at a time when global trade continued to expand more rapidly than trade within the region.
He commended the programme’s partners, particularly the European Union, for contributing 50 million euros towards its implementation.
“I believe that West Africa will be different if we succeed in implementing this programme. This project is key, as about 80 percent of the region faces trade barriers,” Dr. Sylla remarked.
The Director at the International Trade Centre, Mr. Espinon Oliveira-Gomez, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to supporting Africa’s development through private sector growth.
“We are celebrating a partnership between development partners, ECOWAS and the European Union, working towards empowering the private sector. I truly believe that one of the best ways of supporting sustainable development is by empowering small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.
Oliveira-Gomez noted that West Africa remained committed to regional integration and said the ITC has a long history of supporting customs cooperation and trade facilitation initiatives across the region.
Bernard Bau, Programme Manager at UNIDO, highlighted the organization’s support to the European Union in designing, establishing, strengthening and promoting quality infrastructure systems at both national and regional levels.
He said significant progress had been made in developing standards, metrology, accreditation, testing, certification and conformity assessment systems that enable enterprises to access and compete in regional and international markets.
According to stakeholders, the ATCMA-ECOWAS programme seeks to improve market access, strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, support priority value chains and enhance quality systems required for businesses to participate more effectively in regional, continental and international markets
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