The three-day forum, which ends today, Thursday, was held at the Bakadaji Hotel. It was organised by the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GiEPA) and it brought together delegates from the TPOs across the region.
The ECOWAS region pursues the aspiration of its vision 2050 and ‘ECOWAS of the Peoples: Peace and Prosperity for All’. It recognises the strong role that trade will play and, in this regard continues to deepen regional trade integration through various instruments including the Trade Liberalization
Schemes (ETLS), the Common External Tariff (CET), the West African Common Industrialization
Policy (WACIP), and the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP).
The ECOWAS TPO Network comprises public sector entities and collaborates with The ECOWAS Commission to enhance trade development and promotion. It further aims to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation, encouraging more dynamic collaboration among ECOWAS Member States and with trade partners worldwide.
Since its establishment, the Network has held three (3) General Assemblies (Annual General Meetings), demonstrating a credible governance system. The specific objectives of the 4th General Assembly of the ECOWAS TPO Network include to elect the fourth Bureau of the Network for 2024 to 2025, review the activities undertaken since the Third General Assembly, held in Bissau from 5th-6th July 2023 and to review and approve the 2024-2025 Work Plan and Budget of the Network.
In his opening remarks, Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof, the minister for Trade Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, said that the ECOWAS TPO Network serves as a crucial platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and capacity building among member states.
He said the network provides them an avenue to harness their collective strengths, address common challenges, and leverage opportunities to enhance trade and investment flows within the region.
Ousainou Senghore, GiEPA Chief Executive Officer, who doubles as the Vice President of the Network, said that the forum was a testament to their collective dedication and unwavering commitment to fostering trade, investment, and economic growth within the region.
Kolawole A. Sofola, the director of Commerce, Ecowas Commission, also revealed that as part of its ongoing effort in improving regional trade, more recent developments were made such as the formulation of the Ecowas Common Trade Policy (CTP); Ecowas Trade and Investment Promotion Strategy, Non-tariff Barriers Elimination Strategy and Action Plan; and Regional Trade and Transport Facilitation Strategy.
He revealed that these draft instruments are still under consultation and expected to improve intra-regional trade and address tariffs and non-tariffs barriers economic operators face in the region.
Mr. Sofola assured that the Ecowas Commission is committed to promoting cooperation and integration, leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa in order to raise the living standards of its people.
He added that it will also continue to support the Ecowas TPO Network as a collaborative partner of the Commission on matters of trade development and promotion within and beyond the West African Region.
