The 4th Annual Common Assembly of the Financial Neighborhood of West African States (Ecowas) Commerce Promotion Group (TPO) Community ended on Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Banjul, Gambia, with a sequence of resolutions designed to additional enhance commerce in West Africa. To make sure higher promotion of commerce inside the group, the members determined to prepare common commerce gala’s to spice up intra-regional commerce. ECOWAS member states are inspired to take an energetic half in these gala’s, in an effort to foster collaboration and financial progress within the area.
In addition they selected the inclusive number of worth chains with the potential to stimulate financial growth, create jobs and enhance competitiveness in West Africa. One other decision considerations the implementation of measures to enhance infrastructure and logistics providers within the area, with explicit emphasis on decreasing commerce obstacles, streamlining customs procedures and bettering transport networks to facilitate commerce operations and make them extra environment friendly.
As well as, ECOWAS is requested to assist its member states of their efforts to strengthen commerce and financial integration, and to supply technical help, coverage recommendation and capacity-building initiatives to assist them obtain their commerce and growth goals. On the monetary entrance, the assembly opted to establish potential companions and donors to safe the required funding for initiatives, and to strengthen collaboration and assist for numerous initiatives.
The identification of cost-effective actions whose implementation ought to maximize the effectivity of sources; collaboration with the East African commerce community to strengthen integration and assist on a continental scale; and the fee by TPOs of their $5,300 registration payment following registration and account opening have been additionally among the many assembly’s resolutions.
When it comes to communication, it was determined to design logos to make sure higher visibility for the Community and its Initiatives; to develop a collaboration platform; and to create a weblog area on the Community’s web site, to publish related data and periodic press releases. Like the web site, this platform ought to be user-friendly and often up to date.
These numerous communication media are supposed to focus on the Community’s actions, and achievements, with the purpose of fostering synergy and bettering communication and knowledge sharing between Community members. With regard to commerce coverage, it was steered not solely to undertake mutual recognition certificates to cut back non-trade obstacles and facilitate transactions, but additionally to work with the related authorities to standardize and settle for these certificates in all ECOWAS member states. Contributors really helpful the event of particular methods for precedence merchandise in every ECOWAS member state, to boost commerce alternatives, and the institution of platforms and initiatives to immediately hyperlink suppliers and consumers, with a view to facilitating commerce and market entry.
Different resolutions of the assembly embrace the participation of Community members in worldwide conferences to accumulate data; the optimization of the price range to make sure environment friendly use of sources; definition and achievement of set goals; and group of quarterly conferences to evaluation progress, talk about challenges and plan future actions.
On behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Fee, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, and the Commissioner for Financial Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs Massandjé Touré-Litsé, the Director of Commerce, Kolawole Sofola, expressed his gratitude to the members for the adoption of those resolutions, whose environment friendly implementation ought to assist promote intra-regional commerce. He congratulated the brand new President and Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commerce Promotion Organizations Community for the interval 2024-2025, and wished them each success of their time period of workplace.
The brand new Chairman is Modou Mbene Gueye, Director Common of the Senegalese Export Promotion Company, and the brand new Vice-Chairman is Ousainou Senghore, Director Common of the Gambian Funding and Export Promotion Company.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS).
