ECOWAS and TradeMark Africa Unveil Roadmap to Harmonise Trade Standards on Abidjan–Lagos Corridor
The ECOWAS Commission and TradeMark Africa, working with support from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, have brought together regional partners in Accra to address quality and standards challenges affecting trade along the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor, West Africa’s busiest commercial route.
The three day Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards and Technical Barriers to Trade Forum, running from 19 to 21 November 2025, convenes government officials, private sector players and regional institutions from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and the East African Community.
The meeting aims to produce a Corridor SPS and TBT Action Roadmap covering 2025 to 2027. The roadmap will outline steps to enhance border coordination, harmonise standards, and strengthen quality assurance and SPS systems across the region. Delegates will also refine recommendations that align with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s protocols on eliminating technical barriers to trade through cooperation, transparency and standard alignment, while protecting human, animal and plant health.
A framework guiding collaboration between ECOWAS and the East African Community on trade standards and SPS systems is also expected to emerge from the discussions. Organisers say the initiative builds on TradeMark Africa’s successful work in East Africa, where cargo transit times have been cut by more than sixteen percent and border crossing times reduced by as much as seventy percent.
The forum is seen as an important step toward a safer, more efficient and more predictable trading environment for the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor. The improvements are expected to benefit small enterprises, women traders and youth-led businesses that rely heavily on cross-border movement.
The event forms part of a wider set of ECOWAS engagements taking place in Accra, led by Dr Kalilou Sylla, Commissioner and Head of the ECOWAS Department of Economic Affairs and Agriculture. It was jointly opened by Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku; Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Amelia Arthur; and Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare.
