The Badagry Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA) has extended its warm goodwill to the organizers and participants of the Benin-Nigeria Business Forum, recognizing it as a timely step towards strengthening bilateral trade relations and deepening regional economic integration within the ECOWAS sub-region.
Speaking at the event, Alhaji Yahaya Idris, President of the Badagry Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA), welcomed the Forum, highlighting its potential to boost cross-border commerce, particularly along the Badagry-Seme corridor.
Alhaji Idris commended FEWACCI’s efforts in promoting private-sector collaboration and economic integration, saying BACCIMA had been at the forefront of advocating for the formalisation of informal cross-border trade and reducing multiple checkpoints along the border axis.
The Chamber had also partnered with the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as GDIZ, to strengthen regional value chains and promote industrialisation.
BACCIMA, strategically positioned along the Badagry-Seme trans-border corridor, has consistently championed the formalization of informal cross-border trade and advocated for reduced checkpoints along the border axis to facilitate the free movement of goods, persons, and services.
The Chamber has also been at the forefront of advocating for Biometric Identification Cards for cross-border traders, which has recently been launched by the Nigerian Immigration Service .
The Forum builds on existing partnerships, including the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BACCIMA and the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and engagement with the Glo-Djigbe Industrial Zone (GDIZ).
The chamber is also preparing to host its forthcoming International Trade Fair, themed “Trading Without Borders: Empowering SMEs for Regional and Global Markets”.
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