The prevalence of multiple checkpoints along the Seme-Krake border is affecting West African trade among countries in the region, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime, has said.
Jime stated this during a sensitisation programme organised by the NSC, the ECOWAS Commission and the United States Agency for International Development (ECOWAS-USAID) in Lagos at the weekend.
He noted that the seamless flow of goods and the West African regional integration is being impacted by the disruptive barriers.
He called on professional groups, businesses, and individuals to take advantage of the ongoing trade facilitation initiatives in West Africa by using the ECOWAS Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism (TOAM) to eliminate Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB) across the sub-region.
The Principal Trade Advisor, ECOWAP-USAID Operational Programme, ECOWAS Commission, Justin Bayili stressed that a conducive environment for trade facilitation in the region is pivotal.
The President of the Ikom Chamber of Commerce, Mrs Flora Takim-Ndifon, said TOAM’s greatest strength is the understanding that one could do business legitimately without any fear of interferences from anybody.