The President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Dr. Alieu Touray has decried that the current political situations within the subregion has overshadowed the efforts of the regional bloc at addressing the needs of citizens of the community.
He said this, even as he lamented the low trade volume
amongst member states, which hovers in the region of 12%.
Touray also said the trade volume within the larger African
continent was not also impressive as it stands under 20%.
Speaking at the maiden briefing on the activities of the
sub-regional body on Wednesday in Abuja, Touray said: “There is so much more
that ECOWAS is engaged in, as ECOWAS is present in virtually all facets of
human development in the region, planning and providing for the contemporary
needs of the community.
“Unfortunately, these laudable strides in the region’s
relentless march towards an economic union have been overshadowed by
contemporary political developments.”
He said with the strategies and policies in place to
encourage trading and movement of goods and people within the subregion, it is
disheartening that trade amongst member states is abysmally low, noting that:
“At the moment, our intra community trade stands around 12%. On the whole in
Africa, intra continental trade is under 20% which is extremely low.”
He said: “If you look at developed countries, countries that
are sufficiently integrated or regions that are sufficiently reintegrated,
intra continental trade alone is around
60 to 70%.
"So we have a long way to go. Very long way to go and this is why it is important that we open our markets for our own produce, our own manufactured items.”
He also stressed the need to have sufficient local content on production within the sub-region.
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