Addressing the trade facilitation challenge in the context of the AfCFTA: views from West Africa

The year 2020 saw an unraveling of Geo-political alliances and global economic governance in general. Global supply chains and transportation networks suffered major disruptions, mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, which started with Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Over the past decade of engaging in advocacy and public-private partnership on regional trade in West Africa, the private sector-led trade advocacy group Border-less Alliance has come to understand and appreciate the difficulty of enforcing the free and fair implementation of regional regulations at the national level so that they benefit all parties involved. And yet advocacy and dialogue remain the best tools to create trust and mobilize policymakers to take meaningful action to enable a friendlier business and trade environment in their countries. Barriers to trade and transport, both local and regional, must be eliminated. Trade and transport facilitation are top priorities for a flourishing economy, and cross-border trade can accelerate regional integration across West Africa.