The 7th ECOWAS Trade Fair officially opened in Accra, the Ghana’s capital on Thursday 31st October 2013 with the President of the ECOWAS Commission His Excellency Kadre Desire Ouedraogo urging West African counties to gear up for the complex challenges of globalization and development process by pulling together to maximize the benefits of regional cooperation and integration.
“Competing and conflicting national and regional policies will have to be harmonized and coordinated,” the president said in his address read by Vice President Dr. Toga McIntosh during the opening ceremony at the sprawling Ghana International Trade Fair Centre.
Describing regional cooperation and integration as “absolute requirements for survival in this global arena,” the ECOWAS chief noted that while countries in the developing world “struggle for inclusion, some other parties are strategizing” to keep them out, adding that “appropriate and adequate public and private will-power and involvement are required.”
West Africa, President Ouedraogo said, must add value to its huge and rich natural resources “for the benefit of our people,” and “for better result, we must consolidate and enhance our negotiating power with other global partners, bearing in mind the struggle for positioning in regional and global economic and political environment.”
He acknowledged that the appreciable progress achieved through the previous editions of the Fair “clearly demonstrate that despite the scant financial resources at our disposal, there are bright prospects for assuring sustainable success of the Fairs and turning them into
regional integration tools.”
But the president also counseled that the 2013 fair being held under the theme “Regional Integration through Trade,” should go beyond the traditional routine of “walking through stalls, chatting and making business connections and deals,” to include the “sharing of useful
information on available opportunities and regional development programmes.”
He also stressed the need to accelerate the establishment of a free trade zone, a customs union, a common market, a monetary integration zone and eventually, an economic union in line with the ECOWAS Vision 2020.
Declaring the Trade Fair officially opened on behalf of Ghana’s President His Excellency. Dramani Mahama, a member of the National Council of State Honourable Christopher Dewornu said an increase in regional trade would help reduce inflation, alleviate poverty and improve the living standards of ECOWAS citizens.
He therefore called for the dismantling of artificial barriers to free trade through public/private partnership to enable the population reap the full benefits of regional integration.
Earlier in his address of welcome, Ghana’s Trade and Industry Minister Haruna Iddrisu called on ECOWAS Member States to join forces in addressing the infrastructure deficit and removing all administrative bottlenecks currently hindering the citizens from realizing the full benefits of free trade in the region.
He also called for the fast tracking of the monetary integration process with the establishment of the Common External Tariff (CET) regime within the next five years. Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS have already approved a five-band CET for the region to take off in January 2015.
After the cutting of the tape and official opening of the Pavilions, the dignitaries including the ECOWAS Commissioner of Trade, Industry and Mines, Free Movement and Tourism, Mr Hamid Ahmed, accompanied by the Acting Director of Trade Dr. Gbenga Obideyi and other Ghanaian Government and ECOWAS officials, visited a number of stalls to interact with the exhibitors.
Twelve ECOWAS Member countries along with hundreds of companies, traders, manufacturers, investors and industrialists are showcasing their products and services during the two-week regional fair.
The ECOWAS Trade Fair is an economic platform for accessing West Africa’s potential market of some 300 million consumers. The fair seeks to promote economic integration and trade among citizens in Member States, especially industrialists, investors, manufacturers, commercial operators and buyers, Government and non-governmental agencies.
It was instituted to boost intra-community trade which presently hovers between 11 and 15 percent, and thereby contributing to the improved implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS). The fair also contributes to empowering local producers and
stimulates the regional economy.
Previously held every four years, the regional Trade Fair is now a biennial event. Senegal hosted the first edition in 1995, followed by Ghana in 1999, Togo in 2003, Nigeria in 2005, Burkina Faso in 2008 and Togo again in 2011.
