The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana, Ms Hannah Tetteh, has asked public sector workers to adopt effective mechanisms to address issues hindering regional integration.
She said since the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), established in 1975, had undergone a series of transformation, “there is the need for public sector workers, as implementing agents of the various protocols, to have a better appreciation of issues relating to regional integration”.
Ms Tetteh gave the admonition at a workshop organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and ECOWAS. She called on stakeholders to be abreast of the latest happenings within the community in order to deepen their commitment to the regional integration process.
According to Ms Tetteh, the workshop was to equip public sector workers with well-packaged information on current developments within the ECOWAS sub-region.
The call comes at a time that trade between and among the 16-member ECOWAS is hindered by bureaucracy in securing business licenses, customs check point delays and extortion.
Intra-African trade (trade among African nations) is currently set at a lowly 12%, according to pan-African bank ECOBANK. Trade between African countries and some European nations is around a whopping 50-60% on the other hand.
As part of activities aimed at promoting the participation of the citizenry in the regional integration process in West Africa, she said her ministry organised a sensitisation workshop for public sector workers on their role in enhancing regional integration.
She urged the participants to team up strongly and work as a united front to improve regional integration towards the effective economic growth of the African continent.
The Director of the Africa and Regional Integration Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Kodzo Alabo, affirmed the need for stakeholders to intensify their efforts at eliminating the barriers hindering the economic integration of African countries.
He said promoting effective regional integration was one key way of enhancing African trade and growth, adding that “workshops of this nature will sensitise workers to understand their roles and obligations in regional integration”.
