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0 News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://newsghana.com.gh/ecowas-launches-agricultural-trade-promotion-initiative-to-boost-cross-border-trade-in-west-africa/
In a significant step toward enhancing agricultural trade across West Africa, the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade (EAT) cross-border promotion ceremony was launched in Accra on November 29 at the University of Legon.
This event marked a major milestone in the EAT project, which began in March 2023 with the goal of strengthening institutional and technical capacities across the region, specifically in Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo. The project aims to increase intra-regional agricultural trade within these countries.
The EAT-GIZ programme, which forms the core of this initiative, focuses on key areas including policy harmonization, trade facilitation, empowering traders, and promoting cross-border agri-food trade. These components align closely with the foundational objectives of ECOWAS as outlined in Article 3 of the Revised Treaty.
Mr. Chris Mensah-Yawson, from the Directorate of Trade at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, emphasized that these principles have shaped numerous ECOWAS community initiatives and projects, such as the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET), and the Free Movement of Persons Protocol. He further highlighted that tools like the Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism (TOAM) and the West African Competitiveness Observatory have been created to help reduce trade barriers and enhance export competitiveness across the region.
Despite progress in the agricultural sector over the past two decades, with GDP doubling between 2000 and 2021, the 2023 Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Biennial Review revealed that no African country is on track to meet the Malabo Declaration by 2025. However, ECOWAS’s performance under the CAADP review cycles has consistently improved, with Ghana emerging as a key player in this growth.
In 2024, Ghana also benefited from 500 tonnes of cereal from the ECOWAS food reserve, further highlighting the interconnectedness of the country’s agricultural sector with regional, continental, and global markets.
Given Ghana’s strategic location as a key access point for Sahelian countries to coastal ports and its position along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, Mr. Mensah-Yawson called on the Chamber of Agri-business in Ghana to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the EAT-GIZ project and ECOWAS initiatives to boost participation in cross-border agri-food trade. He underscored that the ECOWAS Commission is committed to supporting the private sector, including MSMEs, particularly women-led businesses, to take full advantage of export trade.
Mr. Mensah-Yawson concluded by emphasizing the vital role that agri-food trade plays in driving employment, ensuring food security, and building economic resilience across the region.
News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://newsghana.com.gh/ecowas-launches-agricultural-trade-promotion-initiative-to-boost-cross-border-trade-in-west-africa/
