By Angela Adu-Asomaning
The ECOWAS Commission and TradeMark Africa (TMA) convened in Accra for a three-day forum aimed at strengthening trade along the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor. The meeting reviewed Border Agency Coordination and explored opportunities to align national policies and regulations with ECOWAS and AfCFTA protocols.
The Abidjan–Lagos Corridor Sanitary and Phytosanitary/Technical Barriers to Trade Forum brought together delegates from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and other regional institutions to address standards and SPS challenges along the corridor, which handles nearly two-thirds of West Africa’s trade.
Participants stated that inconsistent food safety rules and testing procedures continue to cause delays and reduce traders’ competitiveness. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Senior Regional Director for West Africa at TradeMark Africa Anthe Vrijlandt stressed the need for harmonization and standardization to ensure the smooth movement of food and other perishables across borders.
“We have learned that almost two-thirds of all the trade actually passes through these countries in West Africa. That makes it important. It passes through five strategic countries with major cities, and the cities are only growing. Now, the vision of the presidents of ECOWAS is to make a long highway along the coast. So it becomes an integrated market. TradeMark is there to support this integration. It is up to your governments and the private sector to make it happen,” she noted.
The Chief Executive of the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison, pinpointed key challenges confronting the private sector and underscored the vital role of agribusinesses in meeting national standards to ensure safer and more competitive trade.
“Within West Africa, we operate across both anglophone and francophone countries, and this often creates challenges around protocols, language and data sharing. In many cases, border officials must wait for information to be relayed from capital cities, causing long delays. These hold-ups affect the quality of produce, especially for traders transporting perishable goods in refrigerated containers, which can only maintain optimal conditions for a limited number of hours. That is why standardisation is so critical,” he emphasised.
Principal Programme Officer for Quality and Standards at the ECOWAS Commission, Kwasi Midae, noted that duplication of requirements remains a major challenge for the private sector along the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor.
“One major challenge the private sector faces along the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor is the duplication of quality control tests. For instance, a product manufactured and tested in Ghana must be tested again once it reaches Togo or Côte d’Ivoire. This repetition increases costs for traders and also causes goods to sit at the border for days while awaiting new test results, delaying customs clearance and slowing trade across the corridor,” he explained.
Director of SPS and Standards at TradeMark Africa, Dr. Andrew Edewa, emphasized that the forum’s interventions will create economic opportunities for SMEs, women traders, and subregional businesses.
“Awareness of existing standards is key for businesses to access markets. Without knowing and meeting these standards, products cannot move across borders. Capacity building is the next focus, helping businesses implement standards and obtain a Certificate of Conformity, which proves their goods meet requirements and are accepted in various markets.
He added, “Efforts are underway to harmonise standards for the ECOWAS region. This ensures that traders do not have to comply with multiple standards for the same product, reducing costs and easing cross-border trade.”
Stakeholders say harmonizing regulations is crucial to smooth trade along the busy Abidjan–Lagos corridor, with TradeMark Africa leading the process.
