Cotonou — The ECOWAS Commission has pledged to sustain its collaboration with the private sector, civil society and government agencies in the campaign to encourage Member States to improve their level of implementation of various Protocols and Conventions agreed by regional leaders.
The ECOWAS Director of Transport, Mr. David Kamara, told non-State actors, including private sector operators at a workshop on Friday, 23rd September 2011 in Cotonou, Benin Republic that this was the only way to boost the level of compliance by Member States. The two-day workshop on the role of Joint Border Posts relating to transport and transit facilitation in West Africa was to sensitize non-state actors on transport facilitation activities being undertaken along the Abidjan-Lagos road corridor, particularly on the value of the Malanville and Seme-Krake Joint Border Posts (JBPs) being constructed between Benin and Niger, and between Benin and Nigeria, respectively.
Mr. Kamara expressed the hope that the workshop would help enlighten participants on "on-going activities aimed at facilitating the smooth movement of transport, trade and persons," with emphasis on the impact of the JBPs, currently under construction on the activities of stakeholders. "It is our desire and expectation that together we will achieve a more integrated West Africa with enhanced mobility on our corridors and borders to boost the business environment and improve the livelihoods of our people," he said.
The director listed the benefits of the border posts to include fostering simultaneous checking and controls by government agencies from adjoining Member States with the aim of drastically reducing border crossing times and delays, and ultimately reducing transport and logistics costs.
A similar sensitization workshop was held in Accra, Ghana on 14th September 2011 on the construction of the Noepe Joint Border Post between Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. The workshops and similar missions are part of the continued efforts by the ECOWAS Commission to implement programmes and projects that will facilitate transport and trade in West Africa. They will also contribute to the harmonization of trade and transit procedures and documentation, regulation of transportation and movement of persons, goods and services as well as sensitization and provision of information.
The Cotonou and Accra workshops were organized in collaboration with the European Union under its Transport Facilitation Project aimed at assisting the ECOWAS Commission to implement transport projects that will contribute to poverty alleviation, transport costs reduction and improvement of free flow of goods and services.
