FG urges South-East businesses to maximize ECOWAS free trade scheme
The Federal Government has urged entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s Southeast to take advantage of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to expand trade across West Africa.
Speaking at a one-day sensitization workshop in Enugu themed “Increasing Intra-Regional Trade through ETLS,” Ambassador Olawale Emmanuel Awe, Director of the ECOWAS National Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the scheme grants duty-free access to goods produced within the 15-member regional bloc.
“This scheme allows products made in Nigeria to enter other ECOWAS markets without customs duties,” Awe said. “But it does not permit re-export of foreign goods. We don’t want people importing from China and sending them to Ghana or Benin under this cover.”
He explained that manufacturers must register with the ECOWAS National Unit and undergo factory inspections by an inter-ministerial committee before approval.
The government has been holding workshops nationwide to raise awareness of ETLS and help local businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, access regional markets.
