Foreign Affairs Ministry launches ‘ECOWAS for All’ campaign to boost public awareness

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched “ECOWAS for All”, a national citizens’ engagement and public sensitisation campaign aimed at bringing the regional bloc closer to Ghanaians.

The campaign, themed ‘Bringing ECOWAS closer to the Citizens, Promoting Awareness, Participation and Opportunities for Regional Integration‘, seeks to improve public understanding of ECOWAS policies, programmes and opportunities while encouraging citizens to participate more actively in the regional integration process.

Speaking at the launch on Thursday, October 1, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, said regional integration would have limited impact if citizens remained unaware of the rights and opportunities available to them.

“It is precisely this gap between policy and public awareness that this campaign seeks to address,” he said.

He noted that ECOWAS had facilitated the free movement of people and goods, regional trade, infrastructure development and cooperation among member states.

“Today a Ghanaian can board a bus in Accra and travel to Lomé, Abidjan or Lagos without applying for a visa. That is ECOWAS at work in the lives of the ordinary citizen,” Mr Quayson said.

However, he acknowledged that many citizens, particularly traders and entrepreneurs, were still not fully aware of the opportunities created by ECOWAS protocols.

He said Ghanaian businesses could be taking greater advantage of the regional market by expanding the export of processed agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, machinery, digital services and other locally made goods.

The Deputy Minister also highlighted rights under ECOWAS protocols, including visa-free travel within member states for up to 90 days, subject to the required travel documents and vaccination certificate.

“Goods originating in our region that qualify under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme are meant to cross our borders free of import duties,” he said.

He stressed that such benefits were rights guaranteed under ECOWAS arrangements and not privileges granted by individual countries.

“These are not favours. These are your rights,” he said.

The campaign will include stakeholder forums, market sensitisation activities, border community engagements, media outreach and workshops for students.

Activities are expected to take place at the Makola and Madina markets, as well as the Aflao and Elubo border communities, where traders, transport operators and residents will have opportunities to raise concerns about cross-border trade, customs procedures and the implementation of ECOWAS protocols.

Mr Quayson urged traders, transport operators, businesses, educational institutions and the media to actively participate in the campaign.

“Together, we can transform awareness into participation, participation into opportunity, and opportunity into shared prosperity. ECOWAS for all must mean exactly that,” he said.

The campaign will run from October to December 2026 as part of efforts to make regional integration more accessible and relevant to citizens.