ECOWAS: High-level dialogue in Noépé-Akanu to streamline the Abidjan-Lagos corridor

On August 13, 2026, the ECOWAS Commission brought together customs officials, transporters, and cross-border traders, including women and youth from Benin, Ghana, and Togo, at the joint border post of Noépé-Akanu between Togo and Ghana on the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, according to a statement by the institution distributed by APO Group. Sectoral officials from the Commission presented current community instruments, including the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC) and the SIGMAT customs system. The Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr. Kalilou Sylla, called for an end to "delays, cumbersome procedures, informal payments, and harassment" at borders. Togo's Director of Road Transport, Dermane Tajudini, argued that integration is measured by the ease of crossing borders rather than the number of protocols adopted. The Vice-President of the Commission, Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, announced a directional signage and mobility program, funded by TradeMark Africa, for the Noépé-Akanu and Sèmè-Kraké border posts. For informal women traders and transporters along this axis, reducing delays and informal payments translates into lower logistics costs and increased competitiveness for intra-regional trade. The Abidjan-Lagos corridor, which spans approximately 1,000 km connecting Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, accounts for the bulk of West African intra-regional trade; its fluidity depends less on new protocols than on the effective implementation by each national administration of the rules adopted since the 1979 free movement protocol.