President John Dramani Mahama has welcomed a proposal by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to introduce biometric identity cards to its citizens.
The cards will make it possible for the over 300 million citizens to freely move across borders to do business.
Opening the 45th Ordinary Summit of the sub-regional bloc on Thursday, July 10, President Mahama, who also chairs the Authority of Heads of State and Government, said the cards should be easily verified “anytime and anywhere”.
“As registered Ecowas Community citizens, our people should be able to move freely in West Africa and enjoy all the opportunities opening up in our member states.”
Legal and illegal checkpoints
President Mahama expressed worry about the hindrances that inhibit trading activities among the business community of member states, asking leaders to commit to taking “legal and necessary” steps to remove them.
“The lingering difficulties that many enterprising West African citizens face in dong business across our borders must be addressed,” President Mahama requested.
“Some of our businessmen and women complain that in addition to paying all the relevant duties and levies, they are still confronted with situations and hindrances that often make it prohibitive for them to do business within our sub-region.”
He listed the multiplicity of “legal and illegal checkpoints and barriers”, "lengthy inspection time", "documentation requirement plus costly delays regardless of whether documentation is complete or not" as some of the factors hindering trade among citizens of member states.
“Many businesspeople of West Africa have been frustrated by the request for substantial informal payments at our borders in addition to the regulatory registration requirement and high costs of transit fees demanded by our member states.”
President Mahama expressed hope that the Summit, which ends on Friday, July 11, will address these “bottlenecks”.
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