ECOWAS meets with women involved in cross-border trade to remove obstacles affecting them.
By: Naneka A. Hoffman
Monrovia, Liberia, October 17, 2024—The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ended a one-day dialogue with women engaged in cross-border trade to minimize the challenges they encounter in bringing their goods.
Speaking during the dialogue in Monrovia on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, ECOWAS Ambassador to Liberia Josephine Nkrumah said the dialogue is intended to ascertain the challenges women engaged in cross-border trade face and explain some of the unnecessary and illegal taxes they pay state security agents assigned at the borders while bringing their goods.
Ambassador Nkrumah explained that the ECOWAS heads of state have long since adopted a protocol for people in the West African region to trade without experiencing any hindrance.
She discloses that women from regional organizations will erect huge signboards at various crossing points, displaying goods for which they are not supposed to pay any money.
Ambassador Nkrumah promises the women that she will take their experiences to the ECOWAS Commission to minimize their suffering, as they do in cross-border trade.
She indicates that ECOWAS is an organization geared towards unifying the people, easing their movements within the region, and dealing with difficulties and illegal monies in cross-border trade.
“These illegal monies reduce the profits and eventually transfer to the ordinary people who buy these goods,” she laments, adding: “The only goods that customs collect taxes on are those not produced from any of the countries in ECOWAS.”
During the dialogue, women complained about the payment of illegal taxes to border guards, the lack of housing and warehouses at those borders, and the huge transportation cost.
The dialogue ended with women agreeing to organize themselves in order so that the ECOWAS Ambassador will take their leadership on a tour to various borders to educate security officers about the importance of cross-border trade. Editing by Jonathan Browne
