Ghana is pressing West African governments to take tougher, results-focused action to improve regional integration, with Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare calling on ECOWAS Member States to remove long-standing trade obstacles and accelerate the harmonisation of standards across the bloc.
Speaking at the opening of a three-day ECOWAS regional programme on economic integration in Accra, Ofosu-Adjare said West Africa must shift from rhetoric to implementation if it wants to improve competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
She urged Member States to pursue “deliberate, tangible action” to strengthen regional value chains, push down freight and logistics costs and expand market access.
“Let us prove that this is not another talk shop,” she said, adding that the region must “recalibrate, refocus and implement solutions that increase access to markets and drive industrial growth.”
The minister pointed to persistent barriers, including inconsistent standards, non-tariff restrictions and weak corridor infrastructure, that have kept intra-ECOWAS trade at an average of just 6% between 2022 and 2024. She outlined Ghana’s own progress under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, including the Ghana Trade House in Nairobi, market missions to East Africa and the issuance of 581 certificates of origin by February 2025. Priority value chains, she said, include textiles, cashew, cocoa and fisheries.
Ghana’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, Emelia Arthur, said regional coordination remains essential for addressing illegal fishing, improving aquaculture and upgrading the competitiveness of fish exports. Activities during the week, including ECOAGRIS data sessions and ECOWAS–FCWC–SRFC technical meetings, provide a “strategic platform to refine data systems, harmonise regulations and promote safe, quality products across the sub-region.”
“Collaboration is the only pathway to sustainable fisheries management and shared prosperity,” she said.
Food and Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku urged West African governments to treat agriculture as a central driver of economic transformation, warning that the region is creating 12 million job seekers annually but absorbing only 3 million. He described ECOAGRIS as “the backbone of evidence-based agriculture in West Africa,” and highlighted Ghana’s ITAR and Feed Ghana programmes. He said more than 70,000 farmer cooperatives have been formed to support agro-processing and reduce the food import bill.
Representing the ECOWAS Commission, Economic Affairs and Agriculture Director Kalilou Sylla reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to improving trade facilitation, harmonising standards and strengthening market information systems. He underscored the need for solidarity amid regional security pressures and called for stronger intra-regional commerce to offset global trade disruptions.
Development partners, including UNDP, AGRA and the AfCFTA Secretariat, delivered goodwill messages, pledging support for ECOWAS’ efforts to modernise agriculture, enhance data quality and promote regional competitiveness.
More than 250 experts from Member States, regional bodies and development agencies are attending the three-day programme, which is expected to refine strategies on SPS harmonisation, fisheries governance, data systems and AfCFTA implementation as ECOWAS pushes to build a more integrated and resilient regional economy.
