Hon. Ahmed Munir, member, Nigeria National Assembly in the House of Representatives has given the reason why trade amongst members of the Economic Community of West African States are not properly captured.
Munir who is the member representing Lere Federal constituency in Kaduna, said a huge volume of trade is going on among citizens of member states but in the informal sector.
He therefore urged that the informal sector be dragged into the net of the Gross Domestic Products of Member states.
Munir who is the Deputy Chair of the ECOWAS Committee on Infrastructure was responding to questions from journalists at the sideline of the ongoing Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament Delocalised meeting of Joint Committee on Infrastructure, Energy and Mines in Lome, Togo said.
He said that the informal sector has a lot to gain in the general community ecosystem.
“Having said that, you said something that captured my imagination. Saying that it’s not encouraging the amount of trade that’s going on in West Africa. You’ll be shocked that the amount of trade that is going on in West Africa is quite robust.
“But it falls in the category of the informal sector. And it’s not properly captured. And these are one of the few assignments that we have to do in tangent to what we are doing here. How do you bring the informal sector into the formal sector? Number one, for the possibility to have a wider net, of course, of the economy to be captured in our GDP. But even more important than that is, no matter what they’re doing in the formal sector, it is more beneficial for them to be part of the formal sectors because they have certain access to funding and protection that is key.”
He was hopeful that the regional body will be able to fashion out something workable and beneficial for all the sectors of the economy.
On the need to reduce the cost of airfare within the region, which is the main reason for the Lome meeting, Munir said addressing interconnectivity among member states is critical to the regional integration policy.
He stressed that there cannot be proper integration without ease in movement of goods and people.
He explained: “At the moment, I always like to look at the glass half full. No doubt, we have a lot of work to do.
“But it’s not insurmountable. At the moment, as you’re aware, from Lagos all the way to Dakar, they’ve started the roads that will connect that. Especially from the Nigerian side, at least I can speak for that has been captured in our budget.
“So there just needs to be more work as a community to ensure not only does the road get from Lagos to Dakar, but also with transshipment to Cape Verde. We have to look at our rivers. There’s actually a lot of interconnectivity among the rivers within the ECOWAS sub-region, especially the landlocked, how we can get certain goods across to them, whether we need to dredge those rivers, and what happens”.
He also said Public, Private Partnership should also be considered in the Infrastructure efforts..
“So yes, there’s a lot of work to do. And it shouldn’t fall on the government alone. Some of these things have to be looked at in the eyes of PPP. Where along the highways within these great countries in West Africa, certain private entities take responsibility for construction and maintenance of certain stretches of the road, and they’re able to recoup their investment in a fair manner through toll gates. And apart from toll gates, there can also be tax incentives. Whatever work certain construction or factories within the region are willing to do, certain infrastructure projects, you can also develop some tax credit bricks.
“So there’s so many innovative ways that we’re here to lend our voice and see how we can move forward.
The legislator was also positive despite the challenges confronting ECOWAS, says with about a population of about 400 million, there is hope for the region.
Munir said like the mobile telephone revolution, “We want to achieve the same within the aviation airline industry as well, for passengers, for West Africans to be able to connect among each other, to trade among each other, to have tourism among each other, to have education across various universities among each other.
“So there’s a lot of work to be done. And like I said, it is meetings and gatherings like this. And you can ask, is there hope? The fact that we’re here, the fact that we’re working on a bill to achieve that, and subsequently, by the end of this conference by Saturday, we’ll have a document in place after sitting with all stakeholders.
“And then, of course, it will go to the relevant bodies that will hopefully ensure it is implemented. And then most importantly, us parliamentarians will go back to our countries and domesticate what we have reached over here. And yes, plenty of hope for tomorrow.”
The legislator stressed that at 50, ECOWAS has achieved a lot of milestones which signifies hope for the sub-region’s integration policy.
He stressed: “But I’m trying to base my answers on facts. For you to know that there is hope. And the hope is based on the work that is on ground. And we’re achieving great things together. You need to see the infrastructure that ECOWAS is doing. You need to see what they’re doing in the power sector, in the transport sector.
“There’s actually a lot of wins if we focus on them. Now, having said that, yes, we’re mostly advisory when we come here. But this interaction that we have with our colleagues, once we have a common front, for now, as whatever reforms that need to be taking place are being taken care of, patiently, adequately, responsibly.
“The truth of the matter is once we meet here, once we come up with tangible ideas, policies, or laws that will be beneficial for the entire ECOWAS team, ECOWAS, we come together, go back to our various countries, and try to navigate it through. And then we meet ourselves at a future point. Work like this is grinding. We have various nations. They are all sovereign. They all have various interests. So putting all these interests together is not an easy task. Now, all of us want to reach the same destination, but we just have different ideas of how to reach there. So the idea for us is to form a common front and move forward as one.
“And I believe we can do so because I am seeing it practically here. And I’m proud of the work that we’re doing here. And the idea is to pass the baton to the next set of parliamentarians that will come in until we get to our destination.
“Obviously, we have come a long way from where we were. And coming together, obviously, you can see the strength in unity. But we still have a long way to go. And with various reforms that are being projected, with the various work that you can see us doing here, setting targets that are short-term, medium-term, and long-term as well, I believe we’re going places.
“And the other thing that we also have to put in place is, remember, it’s not just the parliamentary body, but there are other segments, heads of states, and so on and so forth. I think everybody working together is key. And we will get there.”