Private Sector Engagement, a Catalyst for a Successful ECOWAS Integration and Development: The Case of Ghana

Abstract

The success of every economic integration process rest heavily on the effective engagement of all major stakeholders; the government, the civil society and the private sector. The private sector is undoubtedly a key stakeholder in the economic integration process since the sector is broadly the main player of trade which is the core of any economic integration process. The ECOWAS has therefore enacted policies and implemented mechanisms that seek to enhance the participation of the private sector in the economic integration of West Africa. To ensure the efficiency of these policies and mechanisms, there is the need to regularly and carefully examine these efforts. Unfortunately, there is no or little focus on how the sector has been engaged in the integration process. This study, therefore, explored the private sector engagement approaches the ECOWAS has used in promoting private sector participation in the economic integration process of West Africa, by using Ghana as a case study. It assessed how the ECOWAS has engaged the private sector in Ghana by identifying and evaluating the approaches that have been adopted since the ECOWAS institutional reforms as well as investigating the implication such engagement arrangements have had on the economic integration process of the sub- region. The study used a qualitative research approach that enabled the researcher to explore the issues that the study sought to address. The study identified that the ECOWAS key tools of private sector engagement are; policies and mechanisms. The study found that the ECOWAS engages the private sector at the national level through state institutions designated to handle the matters of the ECOWAS. Also, it was realized that such engagements are limited to only business associations. This indicates that the vase number of private businesses that are not members of any business association are left out of the ECOWAS private sector engagement arrangements and states can easily compromise on the ECOWAS policies and directives. To enhance effective private sector engagement within the ECOWAS, the study recommended; the building of synergies between national programs and policies and the ECOWAS programs and policies; the intensive sensitization on the programs and protocols of the ECOWAS for the private sector particularly those at the grassroot; the breakdown of complex bureaucratic and lengthy processes of the ECOWAS; and the filling of the gap between the policies of the ECOWAS and the practices at the national level.