Africa-Press – Liberia. The Resident Representative of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Liberia, Josephine Nkrumah, has decried the poor implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, the ECOWAS Free Movement, and other related protocols across the continent.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade agreement among the 55 member nations of the African Union, aiming to create a single, integrated continental market for goods and services. Its primary goals are to boost intra-African trade, industrialization, and economic growth by eliminating tariffs on 90% of goods and addressing non-tariff barriers, such as bureaucratic red tape.
This initiative seeks to create Africa’s largest free trade area by number of countries, a combined market of 1.4 billion people, and a GDP of approximately $3.4 trillion.
On the other hand, the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol is a regional agreement from 1979 that allows citizens of member states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to enter, reside, and establish businesses in other member countries. It grants ECOWAS citizens the right to enter member states without a visa and establishes the right of residence and the right to engage in economic activities, although full implementation of all aspects has been phased and faces challenges. The protocol is a foundational element of regional integration in West Africa.
Making a brief remark at the official launching ceremony of the deployment of SIGMAT held in Monrovia, between Liberia, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, over the weekend, Amb. Nkrumah said that African and ECOWAS transformation lies in its economic transformation.
According to her, many years after the ECOWAS Trade Mobilization Scam, frankly, there are many cross-border traders, especially women, who are not benefiting from the agreement and treaty.
She further indicated that when they interact with women cross-border traders, they trade capital, and women who can’t trade can’t support men in putting food on the table for their families and children, warning that trade facilitation and social and political stability are rare.
She outlined SIGMAT, Globalization Scan, African Continental Free Trade Agreement, ECOWAS Free Movement, and other related protocols as key instruments that can drive Africa and ECOWAS’s transformative economic agenda when fully implemented and appreciated.
” It behooves all of us that, as key stakeholders, we sit here and ensure that we fully appreciate, understand, and implement these strict protocols so that trade can flourish in our West African subregion.” Amb. Nkrumah urged.
She warned that no matter how fine the speech they read and the good instruments they make, it’s the people who will make these instruments work; therefore, customs stakeholders should understand that they played a pivotal role in changing the narrative of these instruments to make them truly beneficial in driving economic prosperity.
” So, now I want to urge us that as we are looking at SIGMAT achievement, I want to add my voice to the voices of many to urge us to drive down sensitization on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to ensure that trade flourishes in our economy.
However, she stressed that, no matter how vital these protocols and instruments are, it’s their efficient implementation that makes them successful, while asserting that SIGMAT is a highly laudable instrument that can enable change, positively influence trade, enhance integration, and create market access.
“But the rest of us, as member states, need to ensure that we implement this. So, before I read the speech, I had the privilege of visiting Liberia’s borders with Guinea and the Ivory Coast. I also have the privilege of speaking with the Private Sector, customs officials, immigration officials, and cross-border traders, particularly cross-border women traders. I was confronted with the challenges and impairment that they face despite what they consider as the Free Protocol for Movement and Trade.” She stated.
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