Chinwendu Munachi
The West Africa Trade and Investment Forum (WATIF) has held its stakeholder conference ahead of the 2020 edition in Accra.
The event which was chaired by international media personality and pundit, Wofai Samuel, was an avenue to unite investors, entrepreneurs and key industry players across West African sub-region for trade, partnerships and socio-economic collaborations.
Focusing on energy, manufacturing, ICT, agriculture, education and health, the stakeholder engagement, addressed subjects that had hampered trade and investment integration over decades.
The opening remark, by WATIF Director, Michele Branco, highlighted the need for tariff-free access to a unified market, to encourage manufacturers and other service providers. “The future of West Africa’s sub-region and indeed the entire continent is in the hands of the entrepreneur and we seek through WATIF to create a platform where SMEs from across West Africa and beyond will have access to partnerships and opportunities for trade and investments.”
Wofai Samuel stated that West Africa’s population is constantly on the rise, thus the region has so much work to do in achieving economic growth.
She further emphasised on the need for technology integration, systems and policies that will facilitate ease of trade across the borders of West Africa, thus, reducing the patronage of foreign-made goods and services with a focus on products that originate from West Africa and sold in West Africa to Africans.
Richmond Dayo Johnson stated that West Africa as a strategic emerging market has an urgent need to develop its infrastructure to foster greater trade and investment activities within the region and beyond.
Akin Fatunke, Former Manager , Public & Government Affairs, Mobil Nigeria and CEO Kronikla stated that West Africa needs to be globally competitive to harness its trade opportunities in the region and attract investments.
Other speakers included at the event Mr. Femi Talabi, Chairman, CitiHeights Hotel, Joseph Carew, Bunmi Kole – Dawudu, Temitope Omotolani, Adebayo Adedeji and Subomi Solanke amongst others.
Led by Wofai, the panel session comprising all keynote speakers focused on overcoming barriers to trade and investments in West Africa, through ,virtual connections and regional cooperation.