1. BORDERLESS 2018
“EFFECTIVE CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT FOR IMPROVED TRADE AND TRANSPORT IN WEST AFRICA”
Panel 4:
Review of the Implementation of Regional Agreements in West Africa
(Ziad Hamoui, National President, BA Ghana)

2. BULKY PROCEDURES SLOW DOWN REGIONAL TRADE
“98 steps to import rice from Dakar, Senegal to Bamako, Mali”
UNCTAD’s recent regional workshop in Morocco on April 24-25, on enhancing administrative transparency to support Trade Facilitation in West Africa

3. INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE INCREASES COST
Congested ports across West Africa increase dwell time
Road infrastructure wear out very fast (heavy loads, low-quality)
Border crossings do not provide safe parking areas for quick processing
Most of the roads have no planned rest stops (road safety) or breakdown areas

4. GOOD REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL TEXTS
ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS ) provides for free movement within West Africa
Common External Tariff (CET) helps harmonize tariffs internally within the region
WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement provides an opportunity for cross-border collaboration between agencies
UEMOA has regional regional Trade Facilitation Secretariat for coordination of efforts among member states
ECOWAS is working on establishing similar regional Secretariat very soon

5. BAD NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION
Local groups complain of unfair tariff schemes and lobby against implementation of regional/int’l texts
New regulations, without due consultation
Shortage of capacity-building for uniformed personnel
Information not readily available for traders and operators
No functional mechanisms for real-time complaints to a reliable third party

6. Impact on Trade and Transport across Africa
Lack of predictability of time or cost, especially for transit cargo
Low level of economic integration within the region: intra-regional trade levels in Europe 71%, Asia 53%, South America 48%, Africa 15% (RECs between 3.5% & 20.5%)
Businesses are unable to tap into regional market

7. Volume of African Intra-Regional Trade
Intra-African Trade as % of total trade (2015)
REC
% of total exports
% of total imports
Intra-REC Trade
(% of Total Trade)
Position
SADC
20.9
20.6
20.75 1
EAC
18.8
7.2 13 2
ECOWAS
10.8
9.3 10 3
IGAD
15.5
3.1 4
COMESA
12.2
5.9 9 5
CENSAD 6
5.95
AMU
4.4
3.2
3.8 7
ECCAS
1.8
5.2
3.5 8
Africa
17.7
13.6
15.65
Source:
AfDB, 2017

8. Logistics performance in West Africa

9. Doing Business in West Africa

10. Other Relevant Logistics Studies
(e.g: USAID / TFP Report on Port Prices and Charges in Ghana)
(source: USAID / TFP, 2017)

11. Information Dissemination

12. Support at the Border Crossings4 6
TIMELINE
Ghana/Togo (August‘11)
B. Faso/Ghana (September’12)
Benin/Nigeria (December‘12)
Dakar Port (March‘13)
Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire (May‘13)
Senegal/Mali (2018)
Cote d’Ivoire/ B. Faso (2018) 2 7 3 1 5

13. Voicing Complaints; the BORDERLESS Platform for reporting Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB) in West Africa

14. TELL US What is the problem? Where did it happen? When did it happen?
How can we reach you?

15. Summary Good texts, bad implementation
No mechanisms for enforcement except ETLS Task Force (non binding)
Local interest groups with protectionist inclinations fuel the controversy
Need much capacity-building both to uniformed personnel and traders/operators on latest trade updates
Shortage of Trade information outlets must be addressed
Must set up reliable and credible arbitration mechanisms on national level