EPA Review Annex Documents - DFID

• There is adequate technical advisory capacity on all the issues in Nigeria, e.g. technical
advisory committee on services, on WTO, among others, but there is lack of political will to
appropriately use this capacity and upgrade it.
EPA Development Programme
• Since EPA is legally targeted at creating sustainable development and since West African
sub-regions has decided to pursue a development-friendly EPA, the EPA Development
programme becomes imperative for EPA to be signed. Therefore, the regional development
fund needs to be created and supported on a long term basis by the EU.
• The issues of how countries will cope during EPA implementation are not being adequately
addressed and is also affecting the pace, as there has not been any serious commitment
from the ECOWAS commission or the EU to give funding assistance for the first one to five
years,
• Though the region has estimated and requested for $9.25 billion to cushion the effect of
implementation of EPA, the EU has so far been evasive on the issue, insisting that member
countries do not legally commit themselves to long term aid but will encourage them to
contribute to a development programme.
• Nigeria expects the EPA Development Programme (EPADP) to make infrastructure, capacity
building and industrial upgrading as priority. Nigeria is presently prioritising its submission of
€11 billion to arrive at a figure that will accommodate other ECOWAS countries.
There are intangible benefits of EPA which include:
• Positively reshaping regional integration process in West Africa showing reality of
integration; through provoking enquiries about:
� West African regional institutions and the political exigencies of two regional
institutions coexisting;
� The possibility of customs union with two institutions; and
� Why there is no free movement in the real sense of goods and service and people in
the region.
• Building capacity of a lot of people whose interests in international trade or trade economics,
international relations are being created, some through own efforts in different areas of trade.
• The involvement of NGOs, some of which have emerged with interest and objectives in
poverty reduction using the trade channel, and mainstreaming women and gender issues in
trade.
• The ECOWAS Commission is tasked to take up the serious challenge of ownership of the
process.
• Facilitation of the awareness and use of regional and national experts.
• Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal are involved in discussions to strengthen regional
integration.
Non-state actors especially civil society organisations have influenced the negotiations
by:
• Ensuring that stakeholders’ interests are raised to discuss the EPA.
• Making the focus of negotiations of the EPA more development-oriented.
• Strategising with government, ensuring that stakeholders are carried along in the process
and that the procedure for the negotiation is a bottom up approach.
146