Nigeria has called on the ECOWAS Parliament to engage in robust legislation that would facilitate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) toward achieving regional integration goals.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, made the appeal at the opening of the 2026 First Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament and Seminar on Monday in Abuja.
Represented by Amb. Nonyelum Afoekelu, Director, ECOWAS National Unit, she said that, through parliamentary diplomacy, regional parliamentarians would ensure that Member States fully leverage the opportunities presented by AfCFTA’s rollout.
According to her, given the political, economic and security pressures facing the sub-region, AfCTA has become a critical key to unlocking West Africa’s trade and investment potential for economic growth.
“In practical terms, this entails promoting the ratification and harmonisation of trade-related legislation, ensuring budgetary allocations for AfCFTA implementation, exercising oversight over executive compliance, and fostering stakeholder engagement, including the private sector, customs authorities, and civil society.
“Through legislative advocacy, policy scrutiny, and parliamentary diplomacy, the ECOWAS Parliament can help eliminate regulatory bottlenecks, encourage the removal of non-tariff barriers, and ensure that Member States fully leverage the opportunities presented by AfCFTA.
“Ultimately, sustained parliamentary engagement will be indispensable in translating continental aspirations into tangible economic benefits for the peoples of West Africa,” she said.
The minister said that legislative harmonisation, budgetary support and effective oversight were crucial to ensuring that member states domesticated and implemented trade agreements.
She suggested the harmonisation of AfCFTA structures with the existing ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, stressing that West Africa must urgently consolidate its integration agenda, and respond collectively to emerging challenges.
Ojukwu said AfCFTA presented a historic opportunity to expand intra-West African trade, strengthen value chains and position businesses in the region to favourably compete within the African market.
“The ECOWAS Parliament serves as the democratic bridge between regional aspirations and national implementation. Sustained parliamentary engagement will be indispensable in delivering tangible economic gains for our people.
“By leveraging our institutional experience and regulatory frameworks, ECOWAS can position itself as a frontrunner in operationalising the AfCFTA,” she added.
ECOWAS President, Dr Omar Touray, represented by Dr Kalilou Sylla, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, said that regional parliamentarians were indispensable in turning AfCFTA opportunity into reality.
He described the parliamentarians as the bridge between treaties and daily life, noting that their role was vital to harmonising laws, easing border flows, and ensuring inclusive integration.
“ECOWAS is one of the most advanced laboratories of African integration, but we must go further. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a historic opportunity for a market of 1.4 billion consumers,” he said.
Touray said that West Africa would emerge as one of the world’s next manufacturing hubs in the emerging global market landscape, especially given its abundance of youth, resources, energy, and creativity.
“West Africa is today one of the continent’s most dynamic economic hubs, thanks to the vitality of its agriculture, agro-processing industries, and regional trade, it plays a driving role in Africa’s growth, even if it is not yet the continent’s leading industrial power.
“However, to convert this potential into power, we must build a single African market, an integrated space where goods, services, capital, and people move freely,” he stressed.
He also identified democracy as the best path to genuine development, noting that whenever it retreats, it gives way to poverty, instability, and underdevelopment.
“Coups d’état, unfortunately too frequent in our region, always have economic, social, security, and political repercussions. The facts show that where democracy declines, poverty advances,” he said.
He, therefore, called for continuous dialogue and engagement with member states who are currently under military rule with the view to returning them to the bloc’s democracy, peace, and integration.
“Some of those who govern today following institutional disruptions remain our brothers. And if we are to persuade them, we must build on what we have already achieved together,” he said.
Earlier, the Parliament’s Speaker, Mémounatou Ibrahima, called on member states to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which has entered its operational phase, to deepen regional integration.
Ibrahima urged all stakeholders, including member states, regional parliamentarians, the private sector, civil society, women, youth, and technical partners to seize the opportunities presented by AfCFTA’s to deepen regional economic growth.
The speaker noted that regional parliamentarians must play the decisive role of harmonising legal frameworks, remove non-tariff barriers and obstacles to free movement, oversee the use of Community resources.
The seminar is themed: “Deepening Regional Integration through the AfCFTA: Opportunities and Challenges for Expanding Intra-Community Trade.”
