Banjul: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Trade Facilitation Committee (RTFC) convened its 7th meeting in Banjul, The Gambia from June 15th to 17th, 2026. The meeting aimed to strengthen regional coordination and advance trade facilitation reforms within ECOWAS by focusing on border management, addressing non-tariff barriers, and promoting digitalization in cross-border trade.
According to African Press Organization, Mr. Lamin Camara, Permanent Secretary, representing the Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment of The Gambia, welcomed delegates to the meeting and expressed gratitude to the ECOWAS Commission for choosing The Gambia as the host. He emphasized the importance of trade facilitation in the ECOWAS integration agenda and the necessity of reducing costs and time associated with cross-border trade. Camara acknowledged progress made but also pointed out ongoing challenges such as non-tariff barriers, fragmented border procedures, multiple checkpoints, duplicative inspections, and opaque regulations that hinder regional trade, especially affecting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and small-scale cross-border traders. He also highlighted national achievements in trade facilitation, including customs system modernization, electronic cargo tracking implementation, and investments in port infrastructure through public-private partnerships.
Mr. Moussa Troare, Trade Promotion Officer at the UEMOA Commission, reaffirmed UEMOA's commitment to regional trade facilitation and economic integration efforts in West Africa. He commended ECOWAS for sustaining a crucial platform for dialogue and coordination on trade facilitation reforms. Troare noted that the region still faces numerous challenges affecting trade and cross-border commerce and stressed the importance of dialogue platforms to identify trade barrier root causes and develop effective solutions. He also highlighted the need for discussions on the long-term sustainability and financing of National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs) in light of global funding constraints.
Dr. Kalilou Sylla, represented by Mr. Kolawole Sofola, Director of Trade, welcomed participants and expressed appreciation to The Gambia for hosting the meeting. Sofola recalled key directives from the 5th Joint Meeting of ECOWAS Ministers of Trade and Industry held in Accra, including the appointment of regional champions to spearhead non-tariff barrier elimination and trade procedure digitalization. He emphasized broad stakeholder participation to ensure trade facilitation reforms address traders' and border communities' realities. Sofola noted that the RTFC, established by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in 2021, is crucial for dialogue, coordination, monitoring, and peer review of trade facilitation reforms, ensuring commitments under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the African Continental Free Trade Area, and ECOWAS regional trade instruments are met.
During the three-day meeting, experts from member states, trade ministries, customs administrations, the national private sector, civil society organizations, and development partners discussed and made recommendations. These included improving regional coordination on border management, enhancing approaches to address non-tariff barriers, accelerating digitalization of cross-border trade processes, and deploying and ensuring interoperability of single window systems, trade information portals, and digital customs instruments such as SIGMAT, electronic certificates of origin, and e-phyto systems.