To mark the 50th anniversary of ECOWAS, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Chairman, of the Task Force on the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) has advocated for a renewed political commitment to regional integration.

He also underscored the need for reaffirmation of an undertaking to ensure strict compliance with the ECOWAS protocols on the free movement of community goods in a special declaration by Heads of State and Governments.

Dr Chambas made the call in his address at the 66th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Summit of Heads of States and Government in Abuja, Nigeria as contained in a release issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

“As we gear up to mark fifty years of our existence as ECOWAS in around five months from now, it is a moment that obliges us to recommit charting a common path forward, towards a peaceful, prosperous and progressive future for our community,” the statement said.

It said 50 years ago, the world scene was characterised by geostrategic competition, economic marginalisation of Africa, apartheid and racism, war, and unilateralism.

It indicated that the founding fathers of ECOWAS, who believed that West Africa’s destiny lay in its hands, founded the organisation to chart a common path for its states and peoples.

It said it sought to create an economic community within which its people could move about freely, trade, and harness the rich human and natural resources for a prosperous future; hence, the ETLS and other protocols for the integration of the sub-region.

The Taskforce recommended that part of the Community levy, set aside and reimbursed to the Member States, and which was not insignificant, be earmarked for use in ensuring the proper functioning of the National Committees, to sensitize economic operators on community laws.

Dr Chambas said ECOWAS was recommitted to strengthening the development of regional agriculture value chains, by enhancing cross-border trade in agriculture products, especially those products which were locally originating and already qualified for zero-tariff, zero-duty treatment but were burdened with unnecessary duties and levies.

“This would help create much-needed economic opportunity for our farmers and economic operators, while reducing our regional food security challenges, thus achieving a more resilient and sustainable agriculture sector across the ECOWAS region, as a befitting commemoration of 50 years of our existence as a collective regional community,” the statement added.

“I would like to emphasise once again that, where people move, trade moves, and where trade moves, economic development follows and settles in.”

The statement noted that it was incumbent on ECOWAS to develop a common understanding of how to balance compliance with political and constitutional protocols with trade facilitation, and free movement of persons and goods in our quest to realise the core aim of the ETLS: a borderless West Africa and an ECOWAS of people.