Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has urged Nigerian businesses to increase their participation in the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to boost regional trade and economic growth.
Speaking at a sensitisation workshop on ETLS for the North-Central geopolitical zone on Monday in Lokoja in northern Nigeria, the minister said that the workshop was organised by the ECOWAS National Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Kogi State Government.
Enikanolaiye described ETLS as a key instrument of regional economic integration that provides duty-free and quota-free access to approved products originating from ECOWAS member states.
The Nigerian minister disclosed that Nigeria had registered about 3,500 companies and 20,000 products under the scheme, but said that the figures remained below the country’s economic potential.
He identified inadequate awareness and limited understanding of the scheme as major factors preventing Nigerian businesses from maximising its benefits.
He urged businesses to explore opportunities in processing and adding value to agricultural and natural resources for export to regional markets.
According to him, the scheme supports President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda, particularly non-oil exports, Made-in-Nigeria products and the Nigeria First policy.
He said that the workshop would equip participants with knowledge of product registration, rules of origin, certification procedures and other requirements for accessing the regional market.
Enikanolaiye also stressed that regional trade could strengthen cooperation, peace and security among West African countries.
The event had the theme: “Harnessing the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme to Promote Nigeria’s Intra-Regional Trade and Economic Growth”.
GIK/APA