The Federal Government has appealed to entrepreneurs and business owners in the South‑East to harness the opportunities of the Economic Community of West African States Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) in order to broaden their market reach across West Africa.
Speaking at a one‑day sensitisation workshop in Enugu, the Director of the ECOWAS National Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olawale Emmanuel Awe, explained that “once registered under the scheme, Nigerian manufacturers can export their products to the 12 ECOWAS countries without paying customs duties”.
He further outlined that the ETLS is aimed at promoting intra‑regional economic integration by enabling goods produced within any ECOWAS member country to be traded freely across the sub‑region without customs duty burdens.
Despite its potential, the scheme remains under‑utilised, particularly among small and medium enterprises in the region, due to limited awareness of eligibility requirements and procedures. Ambassador Awe noted that businesses must submit product samples and undergo factory inspections to confirm local production in order to benefit from the scheme.
State officials also weighed in on the need to address structural bottlenecks. At the event, the Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ossai, urged the Federal Government and financial institutions to craft policies that enable local manufacturers to compete regionally, pointing particularly to access to finance as a major hurdle.
The workshop concluded with a call for South‑East business owners to view the ETLS not just as a trade instrument but as a lever for industrial revitalisation and regional growth, and to proactively align their operations to meet the scheme’s certification standards.