Tap into ECOWAS market of 300 million people — Deputy Foreign Minister Urges Ghanaian Businesses

The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, has urged Ghanaian businesses and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the ECOWAS market of more than 300 million people to expand their exports.

He said there was significant room to grow the export of processed agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, machinery, digital services and other Made-in-Ghana goods across West Africa.

"Ghanaian businesses could be selling far more processed agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, machinery, digital services and other made-in-Ghana goods across the regional market of well over 300 million people," he said.

Mr Quayson was speaking in Accra on Thursday at the national launch of the ECOWAS for All Public Awareness and Citizen Engagement Campaign.

He said many Ghanaian businesses were missing out on the regional market because they lacked information about the rules and procedures governing the movement of goods and people within the bloc. He noted that under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, qualifying goods originating from member states can cross borders free of import duties.

The campaign, he said, would help close this information gap by educating traders, entrepreneurs, transport operators and other stakeholders on ECOWAS trade and free movement protocols.

He encouraged traders and business associations to take part in the engagements, ask questions and report challenges they face when doing business across ECOWAS borders. He also called on transport operators and business associations to help their members understand the documentation and procedures required on different routes.

Mr Quayson said expanding regional trade would require active participation from both governments and the private sector, and reaffirmed Ghana's commitment to regional integration and the goals of ECOWAS Vision 2050, which places citizens at the centre of the integration agenda.

The ECOWAS Resident Representative in Ghana, Ambassador Gana Lawan Mohammed, called for stronger citizen participation in regional integration to transform ECOWAS from an institution of states into a community of people.

He said the bloc could only reach its full potential when citizens understood the organisation, knew their rights and responsibilities and took advantage of the opportunities integration offers.

Ambassador Mohammed added that renewed attention to diplomacy, regional security and coordinated action was needed to achieve the objectives of Vision 2050, with the long-term goal of moving from an "ECOWAS of states" to an "ECOWAS of people and prosperity."