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First ECOWAS Business Forum opens in Accra
Accra, Oct. 29, Ghanadot/GNA- Mr. Joe Baidoe-Ansah, Minister
of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and PSI said
on Monday at the opening of the first ECOWAS Business Forum
in Accra that governments in West Africa have been urged to
ensure that decisions taken at summits, concerning, AU's
programs, were fully implemented.
He said it was only when governments did their part and
created the right environment that the private sector could
be properly situated to contribute its quota to the
integration process and be a veritable engine of growth.
Mr Baidoe-Ansah said private sector participation in
regional activities stood to produce benefits such as job
creation, increased market size, savings mobilization and
externalities such as the diffusion of management knowledge,
expertise and technology.
"Hitherto, decision-making on integration-related issues had
been a government-to-government affair without any role for
the private sector.
"The resources needed to finance crucial regional projects
had also previously been provided entirely by governments
and this can be blamed for the slow pace of our integration
processes," he said.
The forum with participants, including key private sector
leaders and institutions, relevant government agencies,
representatives of national and regional business chambers
and similar bodies operating in the region is under the
theme; "Harnessing Private Sector Energies for the
Challenges of Integration".
The three-day forum organised by the ECOWAS Commission in
collaboration with the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce
and Industry is aimed at contributing to ongoing efforts at
mobilizing the private sector for regional development and
competitiveness through integration.
Mr. Baidoe-Ansah said integration was a long and tedious
process, which required political will, commitment,
sacrifice, financial resources and most importantly, the
participation of all stakeholders, especially the private
sector.
All stakeholders have a role to play in ensuring that the
bottlenecks in achieving integration were removed or at
least reduced, he said.
He appealed to government's in the sub-region to create the
enabling environment for the private sector to take its
rightful place in the integration agenda.
He advocated a deeper integration process, through which
West Africa could achieve sustained and robust economic
growth with the ultimate aim of alleviating poverty.
Mr. Wilson A. Krofa, President, Ghana National Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, expressed the belief that the private
sector operators in ECOWAS stood to benefit greatly, if they
worked together in an integrated, expanded market as opposed
to doing business in their individual small countries with
low per capital incomes.
The politicians, he noted, have done their best by
instituting various protocols under the ECOWAS Treaty,
designed to facilitate free movement of goods and services
and people.
"The private sector, which is the beneficiary of these
protocols needs to get involved in the implementation, so
that any bottlenecks impeding the effective implementation
of the protocols can be brought to the attention of the
Governments in the sub-region".
Mr Krofa, who is also the chairman of the planning committee
for the forum advocated the formation of strong regional
business associations to facilitate communication and
exchange of information and networking across countries in
the sub-region.
Through such cooperation, he noted wealth would be created
and shared among the countries in West Africa.
Mr Jeffery Cochrane, Chief, Office of Trade and Investment,
USAID/ West Africa urged the private sector to form an
organisation, which would be funded by members, through
which they could communicate with government more
effectively.
Governments, he said should also be prepared to meet with
that organisation on a regular basis for consultation,
adding that, "Government must not control the meeting in any
way."
GNA
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