President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on West African leaders to implement market-friendly policies that will foster economic integration and collective prosperity in the region.

The President gave the charge on Saturday at the two-day West African Economic Summit (WAES), which started on Friday, in Abuja.

Speaking to a gathering of regional leaders and other stakeholders, Tinubu emphasised the need for a unified approach to harness the vast economic potential of West Africa, which he described as one of the last great frontiers of growth.

“The government must provide the right environment, law, order, and market-friendly policies while the private sector drives the growth. Our task is to find new and effective ways to invest in our collective future, improve the business climate, and create opportunities for our youth and women.

“Let us emerge from this summit with actionable outcomes, a renewed commitment to ease of doing business, enhanced inter-regional trade, improved infrastructure connectivity, and innovative ideas that move our people from poverty to prosperity.

“Let us build a West Africa that is investible, competitive, and resilient, one that leads and lives with vision, responsibility, and unity. This is the new West African proposition. Let us make it real and bankable,” Tinubu said.

Decrying the low intra-regional trade in West Africa, the President noted that while Africa is rich in opportunities, this alone does not guarantee transformation.

“Opportunity is not destiny. We must earn it through fusion, integration, policy coherence, collaboration, and capital alignment. Inter-regional trade remains under 10 percent, a challenge we can no longer ignore.

“The low trade is not due to a failure of will, but a failure of coordination. The global economy will not wait for West Africa to get its act together, nor should we.

“Rather than competing in isolation or relying on external partners, we must together strengthen our regional value chains, invest in infrastructure, and coordinate our policies.

“Our region’s greatest asset is its youthful population. However, this demographic promise can quickly become a liability if not matched by investments in education, digital infrastructure, innovation, and productive enterprise,” Tinubu emphasized.

He urged leaders to strengthen regional value chains, invest in infrastructure, and coordinate policies to unlock the region’s potential.

“Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data frameworks. We must design them together, or they will collapse separately.

“From the Lagos to Abidjan Highway and West African Power Pool to digital and creative industry initiatives, our joint projects demonstrate what is possible when we work together. We must do more.

“We must move from declarations to concrete deals. We must move from policy frameworks to practical implementation. We also recognize that Europe left Africa behind in the previous industrial revolutions. We cannot afford to miss the next one. Our rare minerals, perhaps the moral green technologies—yes, it is not enough to be resource rich. We must become value chain smart and invest in local processing and regional manufacturing,” Tinubu charged.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, said one of the aims of the summit is to reset the vision for the economic future of the West African region.

He also noted the need to build on existing frameworks that facilitate trade and movement within the region.
“Our purpose today is to reset the vision for the economic future of the West African region. Now, that is quite an ambitious target, and let’s be honest, it is up to the creative talents, enterprise, and ingenuity of our people to deliver that transformation. Governments and organizations are at their best when they realize the limits of their influence and power.

“So we’re here to build on that enabling environment. We’re not reinventing the wheel. As an economic community, West Africa enjoys freedom of movement and a framework to facilitate trade, fuel electricity, and integrate transport corridors,” Tuggar said.

The Minister highlighted the need for effective cooperation between supply and demand to create thriving markets.
“We still believe in free markets—not a free-for-all—but markets that thrive because of effective cooperation between supply and demand, regulated by accepted and acceptable parameters.

“Let us not forget that in 2024, West Africa exported goods valued at over \$166 billion, yet only 8.6 percent of that trade remained within our borders. Imports follow the same pattern, heavily tilted toward partners outside the continent.

“Machinery and manufactured goods from China, India, the United States, and the European Union dominate our import flows while we continue to export unprocessed raw materials.

“This trajectory is untenable, and the issue is not just capacity but orientation. We know what economists call the informal sector finds ways to deliver what the market wants, bypassing borders and regulations when they’re too slow and bureaucratic,” Tuggar stated.