First regional meeting on the development of an ECOWAS e-commerce strategy

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are organising the first Regional Meeting on the development of an ECOWAS E-commerce Strategy bringing together representatives of the ECOWAS Commission, ECOWAS Member States and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission.

The meeting will be an opportunity to present the key steps envisaged towards the development of the regional e-commerce strategy, including the preparation of a regional e-commerce assessment and the respective involvement and contributions of national focal points. With the development of a regional e-commerce strategy for ECOWAS, UNCTAD supports ECOWAS in its efforts to use technology to accelerate structural change and development, and foster regional integration, including through economic diversification, job creation and more inclusive trade activities.

The Regional ECOWAS e-commerce strategy development project is supported by the government of the Netherlands as part of the UNCTAD’s eT Ready Implementation Support Mechanism (ISM).   Between 2018 and 2020, 8 eTrade Readiness Assessments (eT Readies) were undertaken for ECOWAS Member States in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, with the support of the Government of Germany.