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West Africans are collaborating to increase intra-regional trade well above its current 12 percent to raise employment and gross domestic product.
At the maiden edition of the West Africa Trade and Investment Forum (WATIF) held in Lagos, stakeholders said there was a need to increase intra-regional collaboration to grow the manufacturing, ICT, agriculture, education and skills development in the region.
“We are not trading enough in West Africa,” Michele Branco-Aiyegbusi, visioner and promoter of WATIF, told BusinessDay.
“Before the event, we went to Ghana, Togo, Mali and other West African countries, and people were very enthusiastic about us trading with each other. People have been thinking about it, but there has been nobody coming to bring everybody together,” Branco-Aiyegbusi said.
Forty-four African countries recently signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Kigali to open up the continent to business and a potential $3.4 trillion opportunity.
Though it was the largest trade agreement since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994, Nigeria did not sign as it wanted to make more local consultations.
“I see Africa becoming the global hub, where the rest of the world will be coming to,” Branco-Aiyegbusi said.
“I believe that as a nation, we need to be open and collaborate with other African countries. I believe the fear has been exploitation, but we need to begin to bring people together and trust each other,” she said.
She pointed out that WATIF would go a long way to enhance collaboration for regional development, while bringing people from West African countries together for business.
“We realise we should not be waiting for government. We believe that with the support of government, we will be breaking whatever barrier that hampers trade,” she said.
She added that WATIF 2019 would be bigger and better.
Akinola Olawore, president of the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), said less than five percent of Nigeria’s exports went to ECOWAS, pointing out the need to do more export to the region and take advantage of opportunities therein.
Represented by the deputy president, Kayode Falowo, Olawore said in line with the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari to diversify the economy, the sectors discussed at WATIF— ICT, manufacturing, training, education, agriculture, among others—were apt and relevant to the development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“The ease of doing business should extend to easing bilateral trade. The ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) should achieve more,” he said.
According to the president of the NBCC, there was a need to find solutions to funding small businesses in the region to enable them create more jobs and contribute meaningfully to the GDP.
Felix Ohiwerei, former managing director of the Nigerian Breweries, said Nigerian products were found everywhere in West Africa, attesting to the production potential in the country.
He canvassed support for SMEs in the region, saying that they needed capacity to realise potential.
“What SMEs need most in Nigeria, apart from money, is capacity. They need the expertise to manage available funds and get maximum result. The future of SMEs in Nigeria and West Africa depends on the degree to which they are able to develop. Where there is weakness in SMEs, there is weakness everywhere,” Ohiwerei said.
ODINAKA ANUDU
