Mr Ruben Poolchund, Chief Officer for Africa at the International Trade Centre (ITC), has called on the continent to develop the Mango, Cassava and ICT sectors, given the great potential for value addition and export.

According to Chief Officer for Africa at ITC, out of 302 million tonnes of cassava globally produced in 2020, more than half is produced in Africa. On the African continent, 52 per cent of total Cassava production is carried out in West Africa, with Nigeria alone accounting for 23.4 per cent of global production.

Mr Poolchund made this known at the launch of the second edition of the West Africa Connect event, in Accra. The two-day event being hosted by the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) is to connect suppliers from the region with buyers inside and outside the region in order to promote access to markets opportunities and linkages with global value chains.

This year’s event focused on Mango, Cassava and ICT Value chains, with the objective of providing SMEs across the region with a platform for business engagement, market linkages and commercial exchanges that will serve to promote trade in the region.

ECOWAS Position in Global Mango Exportation

Mr Poolchund asserted that in the Mango sector, although a significant part of production was not marketed, the ECOWAS Region led as the 7th Mango-exporting origin worldwide, with 90,000 tonnes exported in 2019 and market share of global trade rising up to 5.1 per cent in 2020.

Mr Poolchund noted that West Africa also provided a vibrant ecosystem for the development of the ICT sector. He added that the ECOWAS Region has both benefitted and contributed to the significant growth witnessed in the digital space in the past decade.

The Region has experienceed up to 45 per cent additional share of the population using the internet between 2010-2019, with an estimated increase in bandwidth of up to 368 Tbps (Terabit per second) by 2023, allowing for faster and greater interconnectivity with the rest of the world. He indicated that the ICT space is important in itself, but also represented an important enabler for the rest of the sectors, including agritech.

Mr Poolchund disclosed that businesses across the region have begun to embrace digital transformation in the way they trade and carry out operations, and the e-commerce sector is a prime example, with revenues expected to triple to more than €30 billion between 2017-2024.

“Across all three priority sectors, ITC has conducted a number of studies and initiatives in West Africa and beyond, supporting the promotion of these agric sectors through exports, as well as enabling the creation of a number of tech hubs for ICT SMEs and agritech start-ups, in support of the immense potential in the region.”
Mr Ruben Poolchund

More than 140 representatives of financial institutions across the ECOWAS Region have been trained on sustainable finance, in order to better serve the needs of West African SMEs and Business Support Organisations.

Mr Poolchund, moreover, disclosed that ITC wad is partnering with the ECOWAS Commission to support the first ECOWAS-wide network for Trade Promotion Organisations, recently established through the assistance of ITC.

Mr Kolawole A. Sofola, the Acting Director, Trade at ECOWAS Commission, noted that these four value chain are considered as a transversal value chain that could be used to leverage the transformation and export capacities of the three first value chains. He thus, stated that supporting the promotion of regional value chains and the development of the private sector are key priorities for the ECOWAS Commission.

Meanwhile, the ECOWAS Commission has implemented a number of policies, strategies and institutions to create conditions for a sustainable development and growth in the region.

Mr Fakhruddin Azizi, the Industrial Development Officer, Department of Trade Investment and Innovation of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, said the Organisation recognised the key role of the Programme to strengthen the competitiveness of West African countries.