afrol News, 31 October - Ghanaian Minister of Trade, Industry and Private Sector Development, Joe Baidoe-Ansah, has tasked the governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to be fully committed to their responsibilities by ensuring that decisions taken at summits are fully implemented.

Baidoe-Ansah asked member states of the regional grouping to ensure that sub-regional protocols are implemented and enforced at the national level and that the necessary institutional mechanisms are put in place.
 
Ghanaian Minister fired the comments at a first-ever business forum organised by ECOWAS in collaboration with Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Ecobank in the Ghanaian capital Accra. The forum aims to contribute to the ongoing efforts to mobilise the private sector for regional development and competitiveness through integration.
 
“It is 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,” he candidly told the forum.

He said private sector participation in regional activities will produce benefits such as job creation, increased market size, savings mobilization and externalities such as the diffusion of management knowledge, expertise and technology.

Baidoe-Ansah said decision-making on integration-related issues which had been a government-to-government affair without any role for the private sector can be blame for the slow pace of integration.
 
“Integration is a long and tedious process, which requires 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.”

The forum will address several issues, including the harmonisation of a single currency and economic partnership agreements between the European Union and African countries.

By S. Makalo in Accra, Ghana

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories