The ECOWAS Commission has called for sanctions against member states in West Africa that fail to enforce agreed-upon policies meant to support Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
Speaking on Monday at a joint parliamentary committee meeting in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, Dr Tony Luka Elumelu of the ECOWAS Business Council Secretariat urged regional leaders to stop enacting new regulations and instead focus on enforcing existing ones.
“We have very good policies, protocols, and legal instruments for private sector development,” Elumelu said. “My recommendation is that we should implement what we adopt… and remove every bottleneck that impedes MSMEs from thriving.”
Trade barriers and market competition
Elumelu highlighted persistent obstacles to regional trade, particularly pointing to an excessive number of security roadblocks and checkpoints across West African transit corridors that continue to hinder small business growth.
He noted that with the rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), West Africa faces stiffer competition from other regions, making it essential to protect and support legitimate local traders.
He urged the ECOWAS Parliament to introduce clear implementation timelines and monitoring mechanisms for all approved legal instruments.
Call to formalise small businesses
Also speaking at the event, Dr Olalekan Afolabi, Principal Programme Officer for Enterprise and Business Promotion at the ECOWAS Commission, stressed the need to transition informal businesses into the formal sector.
Dr. Afolabi called on regional parliamentarians to push for national legislation that domesticates ECOWAS business policies and ensures accountability for regional initiatives—including the EU-funded €50m African Trade Competitive and Market Access Programme.
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