Abuja, 16^th May, 2018. Trade experts from Members States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Wednesday, 16^th May, 2018 began a two-day meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, to enhance their knowledge on the ECOWAS Trade Information System (ECOTIS) project and deliberate on the expected content for national trade portals to be linked to the ECOTIS.

In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Tèi Konzi emphasized the importance of reliable and timely access to trade information in the West African region for developing export competitiveness in the global market place.

Mr. Konzi stressed the need for ECOTIS and its potentials to create transparency in trade policy development in Member States as well as country involvement in the process to ensure that the system will be beneficial to all users and stakeholders in view of the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

In his remarks, the GIZ Advisor Trade and Customs, Mr. Kelechi Okoro, reaffirmed GIZ’s commitment to ECOWAS on the project which was launched by Dr. Gbenga Obideyi led Directorate of Trade of the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, on 21^st, June, 2017.

Mr. Okoro called on participants to find ways of integrating the efforts of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) into the system to provide for easy access to reliable information on trade and related issues.

Mr. Julien Bornon, Program Manager in UNCTAD is representing his organization at the meeting and will present a case study report of Benin, Mali and Nigeria Trade Portals to generate discussions on the expected content for national trade portals.

The Web based http://ecotipa.ecowas.int ECOTIS project will also serve as a monitoring platform for the implementation of ECOWAS Regional trade framework.