The 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The main goal of ECOWAS is to promote economic cooperation among member states to raise living standards and promote economic development. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established in 1975, and it aims at reducing or eliminating the quantitative and administrative restrictions on trade among members. 

The main achievements in trade facilitation are the establishment of the Economic Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) (1983), the Common External tariff (CET) (2013), and the Joint Border Post (JBPs) Programme, launched in 2003 with a Decision (A/DEC/13/01/03) requiring ECOWAS Member States to establish Joint Border Posts. 

Côte d’Ivoire witnessed a significant expansion in its trade with the continent in 2023, surging by 23.0 percent to reach US$16.1 billion, up from US$13.1 billion in 2022. This propelled Côte d’Ivoire’s share of total intra-African trade to about 8.4 percent in 2023, up from 7.0 percent in 2022, making it the second-largest intra-African trading nation that year. This growth was primarily driven by exports, which surged by 26.4 percent to US$11.4 billion in 2023, up from US$9 billion in 2022. Key products dominated Ivorian exports, including cocoa and its derivatives, petroleum products, raw gold, and natural rubber, collectively constituting 70.1 percent of total exports. By the third quarter of 2023, Côte d’Ivoire’s exports accounted for 55.6 percent of total sales within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Mali and Burkina Faso were the primary destinations for Ivorian exports in 2023, a trend largely attributed to the commercial sanctions imposed on these countries, which were lifted only in February 2024. Imports also improved notably, growing by 15.5 percent in 2023. Côte d’Ivoire’s imports were mainly comprised of crude oil, petroleum products, mechanical machinery, iron, and rice. Nigeria and Togo emerged as the main import partners for Côte d’Ivoire in 2023.

In 2023, Nigeria experienced a 2.1 percent decrease in its trade with the continent, totaling US$8.0 billion, down slightly from US$8.2 billion in 2022. This led to a marginal decline in the country’s share of total intra-African trade in 2023, decreasing to about 4.2 percent from 4.4 percent in 2022. Notwithstanding, Nigeria remained the fourth-largest intra-African trading nation that year. Around 5.1 percent of Nigeria’s exports are directed to African countries, with Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, and Senegal emerging as the top three destinations for Nigerian exports within the continent. Nigeria’s imports from the rest of the continent remained relatively low, constituting less than 2.9 percent of its total imports.

U.S. goods exports to ECOWAS in 2022 were $6.7 billion, down 3.3 percent ($226 million) from 2021 and down 20 percent from 2012. U.S. goods imports from ECOWAS totaled $9.4 billion in 2022, up 38.8 percent ($2.6 billion) from 2021 but down 55 percent from 2012.  The U.S. trade balance with ECOWAS shifted from a goods trade surplus of $153 million in 2021 to a goods trade deficit of $2.7 billion in 2022.

West African countries are already facing a challenging economic situation, exacerbated by frequent extreme weather events and a deteriorating security situation in the Sahel. The short-lived spikes in international commodity prices at the onset of the war in Ukraine failed to translate into a sustainable stimulus for economic growth by increasing export revenues. A case in point is Nigeria, the largest economy in the region, where the windfall gains from crude oil exports were utilized to subsidize high import prices of fuel products as the country lacked domestic refining facilities. The spike in cotton prices did not help the region’s cotton producers, the largest in Africa, as they suffered from bad weather and pests in the 2022/23 season. External demand from China and the European economies, the region’s major export destinations, remains subdued. 

Tight financing conditions in international capital markets limit access to external financing and refinancing opportunities. The region’s GDP is projected to grow at 3.8% in 2024. The projection is above the 2016–2023 average of 2.6%, but it is still insufficient to reduce the region’s poverty, given the high population growth. On average, over the period 2016–2023, per capita GDP growth registered zero growth, and the forecast for 2024 is 1.3 percent. Inflation is expected to remain high in 2024, particularly in Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, pushing up the regional average to 19.2 percent. While the situation surrounding the ECOWAS membership of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger is still fluid, and the economic impact is uncertain, this Monthly Briefing highlights the challenges West African countries face in promoting economic development through regional integration.

The share of intra-African trade stood at 21 percent of total exports and 15 percent of total imports. Within West Africa, the intraregional trade share stood at 14 percent in terms of exports and 12 percent in terms of imports. The average share of intraregional trade has not changed much over the last 20 years, even as West Africa’s overall trade patterns shifted (figure 3). Among the major trade partners, the share of Asian economies increased both in terms of exports and imports over the past two decades. Europe remains one of West Africa’s major export destinations, but its share on the import side has declined. The substantial decline in the share of North America as an export destination reflects a plunge in Nigerian crude oil exports to the United States.

At the national level, the trade patterns within West Africa show greater diversity. The regional aggregate mostly reflects the trade values of larger economies, particularly Nigeria, where the share of intraregional trade stood at a meager 4.6 percent in terms of exports and 5.2 percent in terms of imports. Yet, Nigeria is the major export destination for Niger, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire. Intraregional trade is an essential economic activity for several smaller West African economies.

According to the Afreximbank, West Africa possesses substantial export potential to the rest of the continent, estimated at US$12 billion, representing approximately 17.3 percent of the total intra-African export potential. Among the products demonstrating the highest export potential are food products, vegetable oils and fats, fish and shellfish, beauty products, mineral products, machinery and electricity, plastics and rubber, ferrous metals, fertilizers, and paper products. Together, these products collectively contribute to about 37.5 percent of the region’s total export potential.