Dr. Adebusuyi Isaac Adeniran in this paper “Borderless ECOWAS: Dream and Reality – Exploring The Cost of Trade Barriers in West Africa” looks at the realities that constitute barriers to trade and free movement of goods and people within the West African sub-region. The paper further goes ahead to look at the cost of those barriers and what benefits could be derived from surmounting them. The paper shows that the sub-region is one of the world’s most challenging regions for trade and then goes on to offer a way forward. It highlights why the ECOWAS Protocol of 1979 has failed and the essence of Free Market for economic progress.
The paper is attached below. It would prove very useful for students, policy makers, civil society organisations and other stakeholders in the West African sub-region.
photo: Seme Border, PUNCH Newspaper