The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called for the urgent harmonization of customs procedures, tax policies, import regulations, and business registration requirements across Member States to foster a predictable environment for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The recommendation was part of a resolution adopted on Friday following a joint delocalized meeting in Cotonou, Benin Republic. The session brought together the parliamentary committees on Industry and Private Sector; Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research; Administration, Finance, and Budget; and Public Accounts.
Presenting the resolutions, Committee Co-Chairman Hon. Alhagie Darbo emphasized the necessity of fully implementing ECOWAS trade protocols, eliminating non-tariff barriers, investing in cross-border infrastructure, and strengthening national monitoring mechanisms.
Key recommendations from the parliamentary committee include:
Regulatory Reforms: Adopting legal and fiscal frameworks that encourage informal businesses to transition into the formal economy, boost local value addition, and improve overall MSME competitiveness.
Market Governance: Ensuring transparent allocation of public market facilities, providing accessible tenancy agreements, and eliminating unlawful harassment of cross-border traders.
Financial Inclusion: Expanding access to affordable credit and targeted financial assistance, particularly for youth- and women-led enterprises, to help integrate them into regional value chains.
Trade Facilitation: Accelerating standard product certification mechanisms and enhancing the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) by simplifying border procedures and reducing administrative bottlenecks.
Industrial Clusters: Establishing regional industrial and agricultural clusters to encourage local sourcing of semi-processed raw materials and lessen dependence on extra-regional imports.
To support these measures, the Parliament urged the ECOWAS Commission to strengthen the implementation of its MSME Development Policy (2021–2030) by establishing enterprise support centers and placing assistance desks at major trade corridors and border posts.
Additionally, lawmakers called on the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) to launch tailored financing mechanisms, including credit guarantee schemes and risk-sharing instruments aimed at small businesses and regional agricultural networks.
The Parliament pledged to maintain national-level advocacy and transmit its findings to key ECOWAS institutions to monitor compliance among Member States.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Hon. Pascal Agbodike, Chairman of the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on SMEs and an ECOWAS Parliament member, assured that Nigerian lawmakers would engage domestic stakeholders to address border complaints and align local legislation with the regional resolutions.
