Nigeria has called on the ECOWAS parliament to enact robust legislation to facilitate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area  toward achieving regional integration goals.

Deputy foreign affairs minister Bianca Ojukwu made the appeal at the opening of the 2026 First Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament and Seminar on Monday in Abuja.

She said that, through parliamentary diplomacy, regional parliamentarians would ensure that Member States fully leverage the opportunities presented by the rollout of the AfCFTA.

According to her, given the political, economic, and security pressures facing the sub-region, AfCTA has become a critical tool for unlocking West Africa’s trade and investment potential for economic growth.

The minister said that legislative harmonisation, budgetary support and effective oversight were crucial to ensuring that member states domesticated and implemented trade agreements.

She suggested harmonising AfCFTA structures with the existing ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, stressing that West Africa must urgently consolidate its integration agenda and respond collectively to emerging challenges.

Ms Ojukwu said AfCFTA presented a historic opportunity to expand intra-West African trade, strengthen value chains and position businesses in the region to favourably compete within the African market.

ECOWAS president Omar Touray said regional parliamentarians were indispensable to turning the AfCFTA opportunity into reality. He described the parliamentarians as the bridge between treaties and daily life, noting that their role was vital to harmonising laws, easing border flows, and ensuring inclusive integration.

Mr Touray said that West Africa would emerge as one of the world’s next manufacturing hubs in the emerging global market landscape, especially given its abundance of youth, resources, energy, and creativity.

He also identified democracy as the best path to genuine development, noting that whenever it retreats, it gives way to poverty, instability, and underdevelopment.

“Coups d’état, unfortunately, are too frequent in our region, and always have economic, social, security, and political repercussions. The facts show that where democracy declines, poverty advances,” he said.

He therefore called for continuous dialogue and engagement with member states currently under military rule, with a view to returning them to the bloc’s democracy, peace, and integration.

The parliament’s speaker, Mémounatou Ibrahima, called on member states to leverage AfCFTA, which has entered its operational phase, to deepen regional integration.

(NAN)