Quote from Ndubuisi Ekekwe on December 23, 2017, 8:34 AM

Morocco wants to join the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States). Nigeria must put all diplomatic arsenals to make sure that Morocco does not join the ECOWAS. Morocco as a country is fine but the problem is that allowing Morocco into ECOWAS will mean that European Union has a free-trade agreement with ECOWAS. The main condition precedent, in my opinion, if Morocco wants to join ECOWAS, is to cancel its pre-existing free trade agreement with the EU.

If ECOWAS has a free trade agreement with EU via Morocco, any small manufacturing will have in West Africa will collapse to zero. (Some EU companies can setup shops in Morocco targeting ECOWAS markets with zero tariff.)  In short, we will have massive economic dislocation as jobs will be lost. This is not protectionism: we trade with EU but it is not presently based on free trade agreement. The implication is that  EU products are a bit expensive today because those products are subjected to tariffs under WTO. If you offer EU free trade, via the backdoor of Morocco, their products would become cheaper and  many factories in West Africa will collapse.

Adding EU to the China's manufacturing headache will create a double whammy and countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast will struggle as they work to lift the region. As I noted in the African Union Congress,  the regions must strengthen before we can see a supranational system. Bringing Morocco in the fold will not help this ECOWAS.

I do not see Morocco; I see the impact of EU in this application. Morocco, as a nation, does not seem to care that much. It rejected to host the African Cup of Nations in 2015 due to ebola epidemic in West Africa. It is strange it would like to be part of the West African region this soon. ECOWAS should reject this application and could re-consider when Morocco cuts off its free trade with EU. It will not do that, and that explains why it does not have any case in ECOWAS.