Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called for practical steps to improve the movement of people across the West African sub-region and ensure Ghana receives greater commercial and developmental returns from its participation in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Ablakwa made the call on Friday 16th October, 2026, when he inaugurated Ghana’s National Consultative Committee on Regional Integration (NCCRI). The committee has been created as a national coordination mechanism to strengthen Ghana’s engagement with ECOWAS and make regional integration more beneficial to citizens.
Speaking at the inauguration, the minister said closer coordination was needed among Ministries, Departments, Agencies and other stakeholders responsible for implementing ECOWAS decisions, policies and programmes.
He reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to regional integration, describing it as closely linked to the country’s prosperity, security and development.
While recognising ECOWAS’s achievements in promoting free movement, trade liberalisation and regional cooperation, Ablakwa said more attention must be paid to the everyday difficulties faced by citizens. He specifically highlighted the challenges encountered by traders, entrepreneurs and travellers at borders.
The minister said measures to improve free movement should produce practical results across the sub-region. He also called for Ghana to secure greater commercial and developmental benefits from the contributions it makes to ECOWAS.
The NCCRI will serve as Ghana’s central national platform for strategic guidance on regional integration. Its responsibilities will include improving the exchange of information, monitoring the implementation of ECOWAS policies and reviewing Ghana’s commitments to the regional body.
It will also be tasked with identifying gaps in implementation, responding to concerns raised by citizens and businesses, and helping Ghana prepare for ECOWAS meetings.
Ablakwa said the committee would work alongside two other structures inaugurated earlier in the week. The Sector Programming Committee (SPC) will provide technical input on sectoral policies and programmes, while the Community Levy and Finance Committee (CLFC) will deal with financial matters.
The three bodies are intended to strengthen national coordination and improve the way Ghana carries out its regional integration responsibilities.
In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Francis Danti Kotia, Coordination Director for Multilateral and International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described the NCCRI’s inauguration as an important milestone in tackling coordination gaps in Ghana’s regional integration efforts.
He said regional integration offered opportunities to expand trade, make movement easier, improve access to resources and reinforce cooperation among countries in the sub-region.
