The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), must focus on the interest of the people for which it was created and not on governments, Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday.
She said: "We need to make it an ECOWAS for people and not for governments because it was established mainly for economies than politics".
Ms Tetteh was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop organised by the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI) in Accra.
The workshop attended by over 60 participants made up of representatives from each of the 15 national chambers of the sub-region and media personnel, was sponsored by the Private Sector Department of the ECOWAS Commission and hosted by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).
Ms Tetteh stressed on the creation of a free trade area within the region that entrepreneurs and businesses could freely operate and trade among themselves.
She said that the FEWACCI should lead the way through good leadership skills that would help the promotion of the private sector businesses in making it the engine of growth.
Mr Wilson Atta Krofah, President of the FEWACCI, said the workshop was being organised to create awareness among its members about the Federation and also to educate members on ECOWAS trade protocols that would promote intra-ECOWAS trade as an integrating element and as a means of enhancing the profitability of member companies of the member national chambers of the Federation.
He said that participants would also be exposed to challenges, problems and opportunities offered by intra-ECOWAS trade in goods and services.
Mr Krofah, who is also President of GNCCI, said that the private sector must take the lead in the economic integration of Africa since it was the ultimate beneficiary of the expanded market resulting from the integration.
"We also need to work collectively both as private businessmen and women, and public officials responsible for implementing the protocols, to achieve the full benefits of those protocols. The meeting will therefore seek to sensitize the business operators on the various protocols to ensure full understanding and knowledge of the requirements on our part".
He expressed regret over protective measures of some of the governments which he said run counter to the ECOWAS trade protocols, adding, members were expected after the meeting to go back and impress upon their governments to remove such trade barriers.
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