West African exporters and traders have not taken advantage of over $140 billion market of the Economic Community of West African States as they show more preference for the European, Asian and American countries.

The situation has robbed them of an opportunity to tap into a market of over 300 million people.

Intra-regional trade among ECOWAS countries still lies at 12 percent. This is insignificant compared with other regions with over 25 percent intra-regional trade.

“Intra-regional trade in ECOWAS is still consistently low at about 12 percent,” said Kalilou Traore, ECOWAS commissioner for industry and private sector promotion, while announcing plans to establish ECOWAS Business Houses (EBH).

“Our expectation is that within the first five years of establishment of the regional EBH, apart from boosting the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the regional economies, made in ECOWAS States product will be viable and visibly present for business in the regional market and companies to reap the gains from international trade,” Traore said.

Intra-trade commodities among West Africans include copper, zincs, rubber, cement, foods, bathroom slippers, stationery, leather, clothes and palm oil, among others. In 2014, Nigeria’s non-oil export to ECOWAS stood at $2.43 billion, which was less than 15 percent of the total export within the year.

“You must understand that most of them are unaware of the opportunities in this market,” said Tunde Oyelola, Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG).

“I believe that with awareness, infrastructure and better logistics, trade will improve among the countries,” Oyelola said.

The advent of the Common External Tariff (CET) is expected to improve intra-trade within the region. The CET is a regional trade agreement among the 15 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), targeting uniformity in the tariff system and seamless trade across the borders of the region.

But the CET has come with its own challenges, with Nigeria’s drug-making industry on the verge of collapse.

Owing to poor negotiation among Nigerian manufacturers or their inability to factor in the possible impact of the regime, import of pharmaceutical excepients and other raw and packaging materials now attracts between five and 20 percent duty, thanks to the CET regime. However, importers of finished drugs pay no tariff.

Again, over N300 billion investments made in the pharmaceutical industry are on the verge of collapse.

“This spells doom for the local pharma industry,” said Okey Akpa, chairman, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) in Lagos.

“The lack of demand for locally manufactured medicines as a result of cheap imports will lead to idle capacity and will negatively impact previous investments in the sector worth over N300 billion,” Akpa said.

Ghana currently has not begun implementation of the CET.