ECOWAS guarantors seek removal of road blocks

The meeting organized by the Inter State Road Transit (IRST) which is saddled with the transportation of goods by road from a member state to another through the Customs of each member state. The philosophy is for one or more member states to ensure passage free of duties, taxes and restrictions while in transit. Before […]

The meeting organized by the Inter State Road Transit (IRST) which is saddled with the transportation of goods by road from a member state to another through the Customs of each member state.
The philosophy is for one or more member states to ensure passage free of duties, taxes and restrictions while in transit.
Before the meeting, Minister of Transport Idris Umar represented by Mr Richard Egbe appreciated the ISRT National Guarantors Association for bringing the programme to Nigeria.  He however regretted that the Nigerian chapter has not really taken off inspite of the volume of trade and transit activities of the country in the sub-region. The minister said the ministry is seriously desirous of the take off of the scheme.
“In this regard, between last year and this year, the ministry has had meetings with the Nigeria Customs Service, visited ECOWAS and met with representatives of NEXIM Bank where the issue was extensively discussed, drawing up the challenges militating against operations and fashioning a way out.  Chairperson of ISRT Mrs Doris Nkani identified many barriers which she said consume time which included bad roads, language barrier and common currency.
 The Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Mr Robert Orya represented by Mr Ifeanyi Nwade reiterated the vision of ECOWAS founding fathers which is primarily to establish a single market in the West African sub-region in order to enable economic development.