Event Overview
In continuation of efforts aimed at the sensitizing stakeholders on regional trade integration in ECOWAS, a public private dialogue sector was convened by the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) to examine the issues, challenges and the ways Nigeria can play a lead role in the process. The two day dialogue was attended by stakeholders from the public sector, private sector, civil society, media, ECOWAS institutions and development partners. This dialogue was held in FCT Abuja Environs on the 21st-22nd of April 2016.
The Dialogue witnessed the presentation of technical papers by experts on a wide range of issues around the subject of regional trade integration such as: the Status of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), the Common External Tariff (CET), information on the Common Regional Trade Policy, Nigeria’s interest and strategies for engagement; the role of private sector in regional trade integration, etc. experts were drawn from the ECOWAS Commission, private sector and civil society. The Dialogue was organized with the support of GIZ and European Union under the project “Strengthening Nigeria’s Trade Support Institutions (SNTSI).
The presentations made provoked series of robust discussions which served as an eye-opener to key challenges in achieving regional integration and best ways in solving them.