The ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs Massandje Toure Litsé, has tasked members of the technical committee responsible for selecting members of the proposed ECOWAS Regional Business Council (EBC) to ensure that the Council is inclusive and reflects the diversity of businesses in the region.

In a message at the opening of a three-day meeting of the committee held in Abuja on Monday 5 August 2024, the Commissioner described the proposed Council as “a crucial body that will shape the region’s economic trajectory”, by “prioritising competitiveness and investment” as drivers of the region’s growth and development.

In her speech, delivered by Private Sector Director Dr Tony Elumelu, the Commissioner said that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a free trade area for most African countries, was signed in 2018 with headquarters in Ghana, “represents a unique opportunity for our businesses to access new markets, increase trade and attract foreign direct investment”.

To achieve this objective, she stressed the need to mobilise “the collective effort of stakeholders, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which form the backbone of the economies” of member states.

She said that to achieve ECOWAS’ transition to a citizen-Oriented Community, the region has broadened private sector participation, in particular with the establishment of relevant structures mandated to facilitate the operationalisation of the EBC.

The EBC, she added, should be composed of prominent business leaders who can participate fully and represent the business sector at meetings of the Community’s decision-making bodies, with regional business associations playing an important role in this process. “In selecting the members of the EBC, we must ensure that all businesses, regardless of their size or sector, have a seat at the table, without ignoring the MSMEs who must be represented so that their particularities are taken into account by the Council,” she said.

She therefore urged the members of the technical committee to be guided in their selection by certain principles such as representation, inclusiveness, competitiveness and influence so that the EBC helps the Community to achieve its “ultimate goal of a prosperous and inclusive ECOWAS

region where all businesses can prosper and contribute to the growth and development of the Community”.

In his remarks, the Acting Chairman of the Technical Working Group, Mr Gerald Amangwa, emphasised the important role of the private sector, which is the “very heart of the development process” and expressed that the three-day conference will provide members with the opportunity to conclude the outstanding issues in the process in time for the inauguration of the Council by December 2024.

During the three-day meeting, the members of the technical committee will be presented with and discuss the composition, structure and operations of the Council, as well as the milestones and requirements for the launch and operationalisation of the Council, among others.