The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission wants to feed more data on Informal cross border trade into its official statistics databases.
As of 2020, data collected covers about hundred fifty-seven (157) products and are integrated into official national statistics databases.
Relevant stakeholders in the collection, validation, and integration have been undergoing training to improve their skills in data collection.
Massandjé Toure-Liste, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture stated that the provision of timely and reliable ICBT information is a key component of ECOWAS Informal Trade Regularization Support Program (PARCI/ITRSP) and that the stakeholders have a vital role to play in ensuring that the methodology adequately captures and presents the value and flow of trade across our region.
Kobina Tahir HAMMOND, the Minister in charge of Trade of the Republic of Ghana urged Member States to continue to work towards providing much-needed support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and for ICBT operators to migrate to the formal sector ensuring that women and youth are carried along in the process.
He called on Experts to help identify and address lapses in the ICBT data collection mechanism as well as enhance the capacity of relevant stakeholders to leverage ICBT and the AfCFTA to increase intra-regional trade.
Koudjo Dzidefo BIKA, Program Officer in charge of Trade and Statistics at the UEMOA Commission also noted that comprehensive trade data is key for the improvement of the quality of socio-economic indicators in the Member States and the region and reiterated the UEMOA Commission’s support for the implementation of the ECO-ICBT methodology.
