After 2009, business can only get better — at least that’s the view of most business people across the West African sub-region, according to a recent poll.

Optimism is the mood for 2010 as the New Year’s resolutions of a varied group of business community members across the region attest.

With a few notable exceptions, 2009 was a tough year for exporters in West Africa. Recessions in the world’s big economies led to record drops in global trade. But a recovery is underway and  resolutions for 2010 are hopeful.

Expanding business means improved livelihoods for the region’s rural farmers and multiple positive impacts for the region overall.

Business men and women are optimistic that 2010 will bring profit and prosperity.”Olam wishes to continue to work towards enhancing agricultural competitiveness across Africa by helping farmers move from subsistence farming to commercially viable systems in a sustainable manner,” said T.G. Parthasarathy, representative for Africa at the global agribusiness company’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability office. “We’ll do this by structuring farmers into organised groups, financing, input supply, capacity building and market access.”

Businesses will seek to gain other competitive advantages in the New Year, too, such as certification.
This was welcome news to Oluyemisi Oloruntuyi, programme manager for developing world fisheries at the Marine Stewardship Council. The council’s certification attests to sustainable practices of companies that catch fish in the world’s oceans.

“In 2010, I would like to see more developing country fisheries become certified to the MSC standard,” Oloruntuyi said.
The world of finance is rebounding after the calamitous financial crisis struck in the last quarter of 2008. In 2010, opportunities for profitable lending in the region are attracting investors — and experts expect investment to grow again.

For years, the promise of better Internet connections, which many consider as critical to helping West African companies compete in international markets, have been dashed as long-awaited new submarine cables have been repeatedly delayed. In 2010, though, the long waits may finally end. As many as four new cables could be operational by the end of the year.

Hopes for 2010 are high, too, in the public sector. The world’s largest regional trading bloc launched at the New Year as countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China eliminated tariffs on 90 per cent of goods traded among them. Regional integration is also high on the agenda for West Africa.ECOWAS seeks to improve regional integration in 2010.

In 2010, Mohamed Daramy, ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs, Industry, Mines, Free Movement and Tourism, said he resolved to see regional integration move closer to meaningful reality.

“In the New Year, ECOWAS will continue to improve the free movement of goods within the region by, inter alia, improving the circulation of goods through the effective application of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme,” he said. ““We will accelerate activities towards the finalization of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff and a common trade policy and partner with ECOWAS member States to ensure protocols and decision by ECOWAS Heads of States are being effectively implemented.”