Trademark Africa has underscored the urgent need for harmonised food safety and plant health standards across ECOWAS to eliminate technical barriers that continue to hinder smooth cross-border trade.
Ms. Anthe Vrijilandt, Director of Strategy and Partnership at Trademark Africa, highlighted the persistent delays, spoilage of goods, and increased trade costs arising from fragmented standards and regulatory requirements at West African borders.
Ms. Vrijilandt expressed concern that while West Africa, particularly Ghana produces food surpluses, inconsistent regulations prevent these goods from reaching neighbouring markets.
She cited examples of perishable goods being held up at borders for weeks due to duplicative testing and non-aligned standards.
“You cannot get the food easily across borders because of those issues. They’re stopped at the borders, sometimes even for two, three weeks. Now if you leave bananas for three weeks at the border, you tell me what happens to them,” she said.
She emphasised the need for mutual trust, arguing that regional trade can only flourish through either mutual recognition of tests or the adoption of identical standards by all ECOWAS states.
The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, which links Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, remains the region’s busiest economic route, handling more than 70 percent of ECOWAS GDP and over 50 million tonnes of freight annually. Yet the corridor is beset by lengthy delays and high transaction costs.
According to the World Bank, trade compliance costs in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the highest globally, with intra-African trade often two to three times more expensive than trading outside the continent due to cumbersome border controls and regulatory divergence.
An African Development Bank (AfDB) study further shows that customs and administrative procedures can account for 30 to 40 percent of total transit time for goods.
Mr. Midaye Koissi, Principal Programme Officer for Quality and Standards at the ECOWAS Commission, identified duplication of quality checks as a major trade impediment.
“The product must be tested in Ghana first. And when it’s reached Côte d’Ivoire, the product must be also tested. That brings duplication that costs money for the traders and makes goods stay at the borders,” he noted.
He said ECOWAS has a dedicated committee working on regional standard harmonisation, adding that once approved, such standards would allow goods certified in one member state to be recognised across the region.
The partnership between ECOWAS and Trademark Africa, he explained, will leverage East Africa’s experience to design and implement an actionable harmonisation plan.
