Okonjo-Iweala to ECOWAS: Give full effect to AfCFTA to deepen regional trade

By Abubakar Yunusa

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to fully implement the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and deepen regional integration.

Speaking virtually at the West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) in Abuja, Okonjo-Iweala said ECOWAS must reduce trade costs, which she described as among the “world’s highest”.

“I often say that the future of trade is services, it’s digital and it’s green, and with an educated and connected young people, thriving tech startups and vast renewable energy potential, we’re well positioned for it, provided we can offer the right enabling environment,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

“But we also need to build up manufacturing capacity, and meetings like this one have a critical role to play in this regard. If each of our countries works alone, it is unlikely that we’ll be able to build efficient value chains that attract investment we need.

“However, if ECOWAS can think in terms of sub-regional value chains, our markets and scale economies become bigger and more attractive to investors.

“The pharmaceutical industry is one promising sector, and the COVID-19 pandemic experience of being bumped to the back of the queue for vaccines was a reminder of why the continent needs to produce more pharmaceutical products at home.

“Senegal, with its Institut Pasteur de Dakar, is a potential hub for vaccines. Other parts of the pharmaceutical ecosystem, research, production, fill and finish operations and so forth, could be built in other countries. And in fact, I think that in Nigeria, part of that ecosystem is already being put in place.

“We should also seek to leverage our green comparative advantage by building out solar and wind energy capacity to power critical minerals processing in the sub-region.

“Can we move up the electric value chain and start making battery components and even automobiles? In the services space, we have seen some tech companies like Junior and Flutterwave of Nigeria start to operate across borders in the region, showing the way for others. We could also aim to have more sub-regional trade and tourism that is driven by the cultural industries.”

The director-general added that to build regional value chains, ECOWAS must address trade barriers, non-tariff frictions, and gaps in physical, regulatory, and digital infrastructure that have long held back trade in West Africa and across the continent.