The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has intensified efforts to deepen regional economic integration and boost private sector participation with renewed moves to operationalise the ECOWAS Business Council (EBC), a platform expected to drive investment, trade and industrial development across the sub-region.
The commitment was reaffirmed during a high-level working visit by senior officials of the ECOWAS Commission to the Chairman of the ECOWAS Business Council, Aliko Dangote, at the Dangote Group headquarters in Lagos.
The delegation was led by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr. Kalilou Sylla, alongside the Commissioner for Internal Services, Dr. Habib Yaya Bappah. They were accompanied by Gerard Amoi Amangoua, Technical President of the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the ECOWAS Business Council, and other members of the working group.
The meeting focused on accelerating the operationalisation of the ECOWAS Business Council, a strategic private-sector-led platform established to facilitate greater collaboration between governments and businesses in the implementation of the ECOWAS regional market agenda.
The Commission said the initiative represents a major milestone in efforts to position the private sector at the centre of regional economic transformation, job creation, industrialisation and sustainable development.
Speaking during the engagement, the officials emphasised the critical role of the private sector in unlocking the enormous economic potential of the West African region, particularly at a time when member states are seeking to enhance competitiveness, increase intra-regional trade and attract greater investment flows.
The ECOWAS Business Council is expected to serve as a bridge between policymakers and the business community, providing practical solutions to long-standing barriers to trade, investment and industrial growth within the 15-member regional bloc.
The council’s operationalisation comes amid growing concerns that trade among West African countries remains significantly below potential despite decades of regional integration efforts. Experts have attributed the challenge to poor infrastructure, multiple border checkpoints, non-tariff barriers, policy inconsistencies and inadequate private sector involvement in regional decision-making processes.
Analysts believe a fully functional ECOWAS Business Council could help address many of these obstacles by providing a structured platform for dialogue between governments and businesses while promoting reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business across member states.
The choice of Africa’s foremost industrialist, Aliko Dangote, to chair the council is widely seen as a strategic move by ECOWAS to leverage the experience, influence and investment footprint of one of the continent’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Dangote’s business interests span several African countries and sectors, including cement, fertiliser, petrochemicals, sugar and logistics, making him one of the most prominent advocates of regional trade and industrialisation.
The latest engagement also reflects ECOWAS’ determination to align its economic integration agenda with the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to create the world’s largest free trade area by connecting more than 1.4 billion people across Africa.
For decades, ECOWAS has pursued the vision of a borderless regional market characterised by the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. However, progress has often been slowed by economic disparities among member states, infrastructure deficits and policy implementation gaps.
Officials believe that stronger private sector participation through the ECOWAS Business Council will inject new momentum into the integration process, helping transform the region from a collection of fragmented national markets into a more competitive and economically resilient economic community.
The meeting in Lagos therefore marks not only a significant step towards the full operationalisation of the council but also a broader effort by ECOWAS to reposition the private sector as a key driver of regional prosperity, economic growth and sustainable development in West Africa.
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