Most African nations barely trade with their neighbors and they at most times focus on Asia, Europe and America as trade partners something that is largely responsible for the slow economic growth the continent is experiencing.

However, West Africa is trying to break the barriers to increase trade in the region due to a monetary zone formed to regulate and improve trade in order to bolster economic growth.

Annually, the West Africa Monetary Zone meets to strategize new plans, create new investment and trade opportunities.

This year WAMZ held its 8th trade minister’s forum in Monrovia which began with a technical working group. The conference was held from November 2-3 at the Boulevard Palace Hotel.

Opening the session, Liberia’s Commerce Minister Axel Addy said the forum was a very essential gathering that offered member states the opportunity to share country experience on cross border trade.

“Your presence here today indicates the commitment of the member states to the improvement of intra-regional trade, which is estimated, to be about 10 percent.

The importance of trade to economic growth and job creation cannot be over emphasized. It is my hope that this forum will proffer recommendations that will improve trade among us,” Addy said.

The Minister boasted of Liberia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, adding that Liberia has become a model for other nations on the continent to follow.

Minister Addy urged WAMZ member states to continue the unity in order to make trade across borders easier and cheaper.

Edwin Puwogar Speaking on behalf of Director of Customs Ecowas Commission averred that the Commission appreciates the good efforts being made by WAMI to boost economic development and regional integration among the WAMZ countries.

Puwogar added that there was an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ECOWAS Commission and WAMI on the promotion of trade-related issues in ECOWAS and the WAMZ.

“This is borne out of the recognition that trade promotion is critical and vital for the success and effectiveness of monetary integration, poverty reduction and overall regional development,” Puwogar said.

Puwogar noted that ECOWAS since its inception has had a trade policy designed to increase intra-regional commerce, raise trade volume and generally galvanise the economic activities within the region to positively impact on the economic wellbeing of ECOWAS citizens.

Puwogar continued: “The ECOWAS trade policy is also meant to foster the smooth integration of the region into the world economy with due regard for the political choices and development priorities of Member States in the desire to engender sustainable development and reduction of poverty.”

According to a report from ECOWAS, trade has increased by an average of 18 percent per year between 2005 and 2014.

The report further stated that the main active countries in trade are Nigeria, which alone accounts for approximately 76 percent of total trade followed by Ghana (9.2 percent) and Côte d’Ivoire (8.64 percent). 

It is dominated by mining commodities (oil resources, iron, bauxite, manganese, gold, etc..), agriculture (coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, fruits and vegetables, Services, especially finance, and other products rather marketed within the region (dry cereals, roots and tubers, livestock products), etc.

“Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal concentrate 87 percent of this trade, with 79 percent of regional imports ($55,520 million per year) and 94 percent of exports and re-exports ($77,792 million per year).”

Powugar said that the ECOWAS Commission has accelerated efforts to finalize and adopt the common investment code policy for the region.

Powugar: “Efforts are also being made to foster the establishment of public-private partnerships at the regional level for financing development in West Africa”. 

He added that Commission remains committed to collaborating with WAMI and other stakeholders to ensure free trade among ECOWAS member States.

According to him, available data reveals that intra-ECOWAS trade as a percentage of total external trade was not above 14 percent.

“This is unlike the European Union that has intra-regional trade not less than 60 percent of its total external trade,” he added. 

“All impediments to free movement of goods within the Community need to be removed to boost intra-ECOWAS trade,” he stressed.

The West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) Director General Abwaku Englama said WAMI identified the need to assess progress on trade integration in the region.

“I have been informed that the preliminary results of the newly constructed index show that the WAMZ trade intergration index score stood at 47.1 in 2015 from 40.8 in 2014,” Englama said.

Englama revealed that WAMI is expected to carry out a survey on informal cross border trade in the region.