Stakeholders attend West African regional integration workshop
Recent events such as negative attacks in the West African sub region calls for a review of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol that allows nationals to stay within member countries for 90 days without visas.
There is also the need to put in place measures to monitor activities of foreigners, who move in and out of countries to avert “negative events such as the attacks by the Boko Haram” that could be spread to other countries.
Madam Hannah Serwah Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, made the observations in Accra at a Sensitization workshop on the West Africa Regional Integration.
She said foreigners should be made aware that apart from citizens of the ECOWAS, no other nationals in Africa or other parts of the world could stay in Ghana without Visas.
Madam Tetteh asked participants at the workshop to come out with suggestions and feedbacks that could help address the challenges.
Stakeholders in the Greater Accra Region attended the workshop to consult and deliberate on how Ghanaian citizens could derive maximum benefit from the Regional Integration Processes of ECOWAS.
They included participants from the public and private sectors, comprising representatives from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Traders Association, the GPRTU and selected media houses.
The workshop, on the theme: “The Role of Public Sector Workers in Regional Integration Process” was aimed at equipping office holders in all the 10 regions of Ghana with the requisite knowledge on the ECOWAS Regional Integration Processes.
This would help stimulate stakeholders’ commitment towards the processes and enable the country derive optimum benefit from its membership of regional grouping.
Madam Tetteh said the ECOWAS, which was established in 1975, to promote regional integration among member countries had become more successful politically but was lagging so much in economic terms.
She said for instance having a common currency in the form of the “Eco” had become a major challenge because most countries were unable to meet all the criteria, and also due to the many trade hindrances including road blocks, tariff and non-tariff barriers, which needed consultations to solicit the feedback of locals to move the process forward.
Dr Kodzo Alabo, Director of the Africa and Regional Integration Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the workshop was the fourth in the series being organised by the Ministry in collaboration with its partners.
He said similar meetings had been held in the Eastern, Western and Volta regions and expressed the hope that the other regions would be covered by the close of the year.
Source: GNA