The Federal Government has urged business owners and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Southeast to take advantage of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to grow cross-border trade and expand their market reach across West Africa.
Director, ECOWAS National Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olawale Emmanuel Awe, made the appeal in Enugu during a one-day sensitisation workshop themed "Increasing Intra-Regional Trade Through ETLS."
Awe explained that the scheme was established to promote economic integration among ECOWAS member states by allowing goods produced within any member country to be traded freely across the sub-region without customs duties.
"The ETLS is primarily made for business people—MSMEs, big entrepreneurs, and petty traders—who have products that can be sold within the West African region," he said. "Once registered under the scheme, Nigerian manufacturers can export their products to 12 ECOWAS countries without paying customs duties."
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He emphasised that only products genuinely manufactured in Nigeria qualify under the scheme, adding that participants must complete a registration and factory verification process overseen by the National Approval Committee, comprising representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade, SON, NAFDAC, Customs, MAN Export Group, and NEPC.
"We don't want a situation where someone imports from China and re-exports. Only products made in Nigeria are eligible," Awe clarified.
He noted that the sensitisation became necessary as many entrepreneurs in the Southeast were still unaware of the programme's benefits, despite the region's strong entrepreneurial base.
"We are doing this to enlighten our businessmen to leverage this opportunity and earn more profit. Once you don't pay customs charges, you are as good as selling within Nigeria," Awe added.
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