{"id":322864,"date":"2017-05-27T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2017-05-27T08:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=322864"},"modified":"2017-05-27T08:00:01","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T08:00:01","slug":"travel-difficulties-impeding-ecowas-integration-umaru-fofana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/travel-difficulties-impeding-ecowas-integration-umaru-fofana\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel difficulties impeding ECOWAS integration – Umaru Fofana"},"content":{"rendered":"
West Africa\u2019s dire travel situation remains a major impediment to the Economic Community of West African States\u2019 (ECOWAS) attempts at economic integration within the sub-region, the BBC\u2019s West Africa reporter, Umaru Fofana has noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cECOWAS was founded on an economic foundation and that economic integration is facing a very serious challenge largely due to the difficulty in travelling and it makes nonsense of the free travel of goods and services from country to country in West Africa,\u201d he said on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Mr. Fofana is no stranger to the woes of travelling within the sub-region and his recent experience flying between Sierra Leone and The Gambia, chronicled on the BBC, seemed to reinforce this position.<\/p>\n The BBC Africa Debate is also set to [on Friday, May 26] have a forum on the travel challenges in West Africa.<\/p>\n Mr. Fofana’s remarks on the ECOWAS’ integration targets also come on the back of an\u00a0apparently concerted effort by President Nana Akufo-Addo to deepen ties with fellow West African States, which started with Ghana’s intervention in The Gambia’s political crisis.<\/p>\n