ECOWAS AND TRADE LIBERALISATION: CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

Akims, K.A.

Department of Economics

University of Jos, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.

E-mail: akimskb@yahoo.com, akimskb@gmail.com 

Abstract: Although the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme assures member states of numerous benefits, performance of the scheme is poor. This paper, ECOWAS and Trade Liberalisation: Challenges and the Way Forward examines the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme and the journey so far vis-à-vis achieving a Free Trade Area in the West African sub-region. The paper identifies deficiency in infrastructure; a non diversified ECOWAS economy; and the absence of an efficient and effective payment mechanism particularly between Anglophone and Francophone countries, to be responsible for the poor performance and the envisioned rate of progress at liberalizing trade. The study therefore recommends that efforts should be directed at ensuring a sound infrastructural base, addressing administrative barriers at the ports with that of the borders, as well as considering the processing of agro-based industrial products since most industrial goods penetrating the West African trade region are processed agricultural commodities, if intra-regional trade was to achieve its objectives and ECOWAS was to stand a chance of jointly taking advantage of the opportunities of trade liberalization.