The ECOWAS leaders in a group photo
LEADERSHIP
of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has urged the
committee established to resolve the issues that led to the sub-region’s
biggest economy, Nigeria, closing its borders with Benin, to speed up its work.
A
communique issued after the 56th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Authority of Heads
of State and Government, held over the weekend in Nigeria, acknowledged that
the implementation of the regional bloc’s protocol on free trade and movement
of people had faced challenges that needed to be resolved.
The
communique urged the committee, the Tripartite Ministerial Committee comprising
of Benin, Nigeria, and Niger, to “quickly conclude its work in order to resolve
all existing border issues.”
In
October, Nigeria – which shares boundaries with Benin, Niger and Cameroon –
closed all of its land borders to the movement of goods in a bid to tackle
smuggling.
“All
goods, for now, are banned from being exported or imported through our land
borders and that is to ensure we have total control over what comes in,” Hameed
Ali, the comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Services, told journalists
in Abuja in October.
The
Nigerian government had initially imposed a partial closure of its borders in
August to facilitate a joint operation named Swift Response, involving customs,
immigration, police and army officers. The borders will now remain closed until
at least January 31.
Impact on Ghana
According
to the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), goods worth millions of Cedis
belonging to Ghanaian manufacturers are stuck at Benin’s border with Nigeria
Nigeria
which is Africa’s most populous country partially closed its borders with Benin
in August this year, in a move to curb the movement of illicit weapons and
other smuggled goods.
Speaking
to Citi Business News, Chief Executive Officer of the AGI, Seth Twum Akwaboah
said the move was having a toll on Ghanaian industries.
“The
closure of the borders is unfair to the spirit of ECOWAS; we have sent our complaints
to the government. As we speak now, we have Ghanaian goods stuck at the Benin
border, meanwhile Nigerian goods are entering our country,” the AGI CEO
lamented.
– Citifmonline
