West Africa Countries Sign An MOU To Facilitate Trade

Five West Africa countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate trade on the Abidjan, Ivory Coast-Lagos, Nigeria road corridor. Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Togo have agreed to interconnect their borders for constant exchange. The agreement followed a recent meeting in Ghana by representatives of the five countries, to ease trade procedures.

My response: Good move. Trade between African nations is far too low, accounting for only 10% of their total exports and imports. It is usually cheaper for an African country to trade with the West or Asia, than their own neighbors because of high tariffs. This should not be, and undermines African economic progress.