What if truck carrying rice from a port in Ghana could arrive in Burkina Faso in three days instead of nine? What if people crossing from Togo into Benin could do so in 10 minutes instead of one hour? What if an exporter could pay a trucking company just to cover the costs of labor and fuel to send a load of shea nuts to port – without adding US$250 to pay bribes at checkpoints along the way?

Borderless is a vision for competitive trade in West Africa – of eliminating barriers to trade. Streamlining procedures, attacking corruption and facilitating the movement of people and goods will lower costs. Consequently, businesses will expand, create jobs and generate more revenue for government and more income for people.

Borderless is hardly new. It’s the foundation of ECOWAS. Working with partners across the region – in the public and private sector, in civil society, in development agencies and nongovernmental organizations – the Trade Hub has led a partnership to develop Borderless to catalyze change.

Why is it so important to remove trade barriers? Food prices remain extremely high – still almost 25% higher than they were in 2006. In developing countries, people are spending up to 80% of their incomes on food. World Bank and other studies have repeatedly shown that inefficient transport and trade barriers translate into higher prices of goods for consumers. Importers pass along high transport costs to consumers. Trade barriers also discourage investors. Investment is key to creating jobs in West Africa, which will alleviate poverty. But inefficiencies and poor infrastructure make investment and supplies much more expensive in West Africa than in other world regions.

Exporters faced with higher costs to move goods must recoup their costs in the prices they quote to international buyers – and lose market opportunities as a result. Cumbersome procedures and excessive documentation – on top of numerous barriers – result in unpredictable shipping times.

Goods perish when a truck carrying them arrives at a port after the ship has sailed. When an exporter’s response to a client asking when the goods will arrive is a shrug of the shoulders or an imprecise “in the next few weeks,” the client loses confidence – and interest in doing repeat business. Eliminating trade barriers starts with greater awareness and continues with partners acting to remove trade barriers. Borderless is the catalyst for the change.