Assessing The Ecowas Trade Liberalization Scheme (Etls) As A Vehicle For The Promotion Of A West African Free Trade Area

ABSTRACT

The ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) has been the tool for ECOWAS to establish a free trade area in West Africa. The scheme that was drawn up in 1979 but began implementation in 1990 has seen some achievements, but it has also seen some challenges. Using the WTO-plus framework as a tool, an assessment is made of the ETLS and its implementation, and explores whether the scheme has succeeded in the creation of a free trade area in the West African sub-region. Some obstacles to the establishment of a free trade area as well as recommendations towards improving the ECOWAS methods of achieving a free trade area in the region are explored by the researcher. Gathering data through interviews and secondary sources like books, journal articles and official documents and reports from ECOWAS, UNIDO, and the EU, the study has been able to assess the ETLS and its implementation and offered a conclusion on whether the performance of the scheme has been good so far. In the end, the conclusion is that, even though the scheme has achieved some heights in its implementation of, amongst others, the MFN Treatment and regional accreditation systems, it has generally failed in the creation of a free trade area. This is because of shortfalls in the implementation of such provisions like the national treatment provisions, transparency mechanisms, competition policies, harmonization models, amongst others.