Nigeria’s Ambassador to ECOWAS, Musa Nuhu, has lamented the challenges faced by West African countries, particularly in the communications and banking sectors.
He emphasised that it should be seamless for Africans to trade among themselves, especially within the ECOWAS sub-region.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb’s Stella Dziedzorm Sogli, on the sidelines of the launch of the 50th ECOWAS anniversary on April 22, 2025, Nuhu praised the achievements of the community over the past five decades.
“For me, all the achievements that ECOWAS has made in the last 50 years are formidable, and I truly appreciate their efforts. What we need to sustain this momentum is to introduce more initiatives that will deepen regional integration,” he said.
Nuhu stressed that trade should be a priority in Africa, allowing traders to move goods freely across the ECOWAS sub-region.
He also expressed concern about the challenges involved in transferring money across African countries.
“The issue of free movement for goods and services is very important because we need this free movement to achieve integration as one. It’s not just about human beings, but also goods, services, and the right to establish businesses. Secondly, we must continue harmonizing our policies.
“Take communication, for example. We need a roaming policy where if I have a phone number in Nigeria, I don’t need to change it when I come to Ghana. It should work under normal charges, not roaming charges,” he noted.
Nuhu called on African leaders to make payment systems more seamless for the people of Africa.
“We need to make more progress in this area. In our banking sector, improvements are also necessary. For instance, we have First Bank in Nigeria and First Bank in Ghana, but they are not operating in sync. We need to do more to harmonize our payment systems. If we can address these issues, it will go a long way,” the Ambassador concluded.
The launch of the 50th ECOWAS Summit took place on April 22, 2025, in Accra.
SSD/MA