As Glasgow welcomes athletes and supporters from 56 Commonwealth nations for the Commonwealth Games, the greatest prize on offer may not be won on the track or field.
Rather, it lies in unlocking the Commonwealth’s vast potential to expand trade, investment and enterprise for the benefit of its citizens.
Over the next fortnight, sporting triumphs will capture the attention of millions across the Commonwealth.
Benjamin Azamati will have Ghanaians urging him towards gold. Yet when the closing ceremony ends, another prize will remain before member states – one with the power to enrich every Commonwealth citizen through stronger economic cooperation.
History has endowed the Commonwealth family of nations with a shared language, legal traditions, institutional similarities and diaspora networks that make commerce easier and less costly.
The result is trade between Commonwealth member states that is 21 per cent cheaper and, in turn, around 20 per cent greater than between otherwise comparable countries.
The Commonwealth spans 2.7 billion people across every inhabited continent, from India, the world’s most populous country, to some of its smallest states, such as Nauru. It includes many of the world’s fastest-growing economies, while more than 60 per cent of its population is under the age of 30.
Yet despite its scale and dynamism, the Commonwealth remains one of the world’s most underutilised economic networks.
It need not remain so.
In November, Commonwealth leaders will gather in Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). If the Games celebrate what binds member states together, the summit should focus on how those bonds can work harder for the benefit of their people.
While previous summits have often centred on shared values, this year’s CHOGM will place trade and investment firmly at the heart of its agenda.
Some question the Commonwealth’s relevance in today’s world, with few able to identify its role beyond the Games. Yet the changing global landscape has brought its strengths into even sharper focus.
The geopolitical order has changed dramatically in recent years. Multilateralism is under strain. Trade is increasingly giving way to protectionism, while broader international institutions have become constrained by great-power rivalries.
Against this backdrop, trust has become an increasingly valuable asset.
In more stable times, commerce can afford to roam. In more uncertain times, it seeks trusted harbours. Few international networks offer as many of them as the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth is bound not by geography but by institutional and commercial compatibility. That familiarity, reinforced over decades of interaction, has fostered trust.
Conventional wisdom has long favoured regional blocs because proximity lowers transport costs, shortens delivery times and makes it easier to organise production across borders.
Geography alone, however, does not create trust. Indeed, recent geopolitical shocks have demonstrated the opposite.
Nevertheless, strengthening the Commonwealth need not come at the expense of regional blocs. Both can complement each other.
Member states can remove barriers to trade and investment across the Commonwealth while remaining fully committed to regional groupings such as the Caribbean Community and the African Union.
Despite their compatibility, unnecessary policy barriers continue to impede commerce. Member states should reduce tariffs where possible, align technical standards and regulatory requirements, streamline customs procedures, and make it easier for entrepreneurs, investors and professionals to move and conduct business across Commonwealth markets.
Removing barriers, however, is only part of the task.
The Commonwealth Advantage inherited over generations must also be strengthened by building a denser commercial network, connecting investors with projects across member states, developing pipelines of investment-ready opportunities, fostering Commonwealth supply chains in emerging industries, and establishing common digital standards for trade.
Much of this is self-evident, yet too often overlooked.
Indeed, the Commonwealth already has many of the necessary initiatives in place. The challenge is no longer identifying what needs to be done but generating the political will among member states to implement them.
That should be the measure of success at this year’s CHOGM.
The Commonwealth should not enter public consciousness only when the Games begin. Its greatest contribution should be measured in the years between them – in the jobs created, the businesses built and the opportunities opened to people across this family of nations.
Source: GNA
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