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31.10.2013 Feature Article

“The Accidental Ecowas & Au Citizen”: A Tale Of Two African Cities And Troubles Within ECOBANK, Even As It Opens Base In Addis (2)

The Accidental Ecowas  Au Citizen: A Tale Of Two African Cities And Troubles Within ECOBANK, Even As It Opens Base In Addis 2
31.10.2013 LISTEN

It is not every day that two significant conferences of repute —that of ECOWAS, and the AU –take place in the same week. Last time two meetings of this import took place was in December 2011, when Accra hosted the 7th AU Conference of Ministers on Trade (CaMoT) in the same week that ECOWAS was holding a Mini-Ministerial. Not surprisingly, the Economic Partnership Agreements dominated discussions.

This year was slightly different in the sense that the 8th Conference of African Trade Ministers did not exclusively focus on the EPAs, but most certainly touched on it. Thankfully the AU took a more principled stance than ECOWAS, and dare-I-add, a stance more consistent with that of the 7th CaMot, where the-then vice Chairman of the AU explicitly stated that the EPAs are “not a priority for Africa”, because Africa wants to focus its sights on the proposed Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), slated for 2017. I took the liberty of watching a recording of the “Good Evening Ghana” interview of Erastus Mwencha in 2011 on METRO TV, and was very assured by what Mwencha told Paul Adom-Otchere.

Mwencha, the-then—and incumbent— number two at the African Union Commission, talked about the EPAs being about “divide-and-rule” tactics by the EU to disrupt Africa's integration initiatives. When the host asked whether the AU does not have “sufficient teeth” to demand the EU to come and negotiate in Addis, instead of with COMESA, SADC, etc, Mwencha explained that “it was done on a technical basis…that you have to be a trading arrangement to have that basis…”

This happened because ECOWAS was moving towards a trading arrangement, yet Africa does not have one yet. Mwencha was insistent that “because we[African Union] also want to be a trading bloc, what you[the EU] are trying to negotiate must take into consideration that Africa is moving towards being a free-trade area, so the negotiations must be friendly to Africa creating its own trading arrangement.”

A quick reading of the statement by the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry during CaMOT8 was very revealing and insightful. The seven-page statement explained how the conference was taking place at a “critical time for Africa's trade and development agenda”, going on to add that there are “conflicting pressures between our continental agenda of deepening regional integration and boosting intra-Africa trade as well as pressure for us to strengthen our participation in the global trade system through effective negotiations at the WTO and with other bilateral partners”. She adds that Africa needs to “prioritize and fast track its own trade and regional integration agenda”; especially now that Africa is focusing on the CFTA, and Boosting of Intra-Africa Trade.

Most significant in the statement, however, is when she states that “the current EPA negotiations and model are disruptive of Africa's regional integration efforts” and that signing the EPAs will “compromise the regional arrangements towards having a common external tariff [CET]and customs union as defined by the Abuja Treaty.”

Now this is an interesting statement in two ways: first, she is referencing the Abuja Treaty as the rightful blueprint for continental integration; and secondly, making a point about how signing the EPAs would serve as a detriment to Africa's own plans in establishing and operationalising a CET and customs union.

Enter the Abuja Treaty?
What African integration watchers do know about the Abuja Treaty of 1991 is that it outlines continental integration in 6 major steps. Africa has virtually achieved steps one and two. The third step is what ECOWAS has pretty much embarked upon with the operationalization of the CET, which is slated for 2015.

The establishment of a CET, according to the UN, “mirrors openness for the region vis-à-vis the world.” Conceivably, it could be beneficial for ECOWAS in the sense that it would seek to protect production at the ECOWAS community level, and also ensure goods from the regional economy remain competitive. What one knows about the CET is that, generally, the tariffs at the multilateral level (bound tariffs) at the WTO must always be higher than the CET.

For the common man, what one needs to understand about the ECOWAS CET is that if applied correctly, it could offer a great source of revenue for the sub-region. An EPA is likely to inhibit any kind of future for a CET for ECOWAS. Interestingly, the ECOWAS Statement of 25 October speaks to the “importance of a Customs Union as a decisive and irreversible phase in the process of consolidating the common market [of ECOWAS].” The statement states clearly that “the Heads of State and Government endorse the final structure of the CET…”

ECOWAS Communique inconsistent with AU CaMOT statement
On the EPAs, ECOWAS is, interestingly, calling for “an equitable and development-oriented EPA.” This is frankly inconsistent with the AU statement on how it remains disruptive for Africa's integration. On the face of it, there seems to be no convergence between the ECOWAS view and that of the AU, which is rather odd. Assigning, for example, the President of Senegal Macky Sall to “oversee negotiations in the search for compromises that are mutually beneficial to the parties”, without referencing the statement by no less than the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry remains a mystery. If the AU can reference the Abuja Treaty for efforts on continental integration, why is ECOWAS not toeing the line?

It will be re-called that there are eight AU-recognised regional economic communities (AU-RECs), which are: ECOWAS; SADC; CENSAD; Arab Maghreb Union; COMESA; EAC; IGAD; and ECCAS. In line with stage three of the Abuja Treaty, only four (COMESA; SADC; EAC; and ECOWAS in 2015) will have a customs union. A continental customs union is slated as stage four of the Abuja Treaty. Neither CENSAD; the Arab Maghreb Union nor IGAD have moved to a free-trade area—let alone consider a customs union. At least ECCAS, in Central Africa, is a free-trade area. They are clearly the ones dragging African integration efforts. Quite what one can do with them is moot.

My answer would be to harmonise sub-regional policies along the Abuja Treaty more clearly through the Conference of African Ministers of Integration(COMAI), which last conference took place in Mauritus in April 2013. No less than the continental custodian of African integration efforts is stating that sub-regional efforts towards an EPA are “disruptive”, yet the sub-region (ECOWAS in this case) is behaving as if the Abuja Treaty does not exist. In the final instalment of this special three-parter, we will take an important look at the COMAI declaration, and seek to explore ways in which that can bring pressure to bear on any kind of duplicity ECOWAS might show in Africa's integration efforts in this 50th year-celebration.

www.ekbensahdotnet.org -- You can download the AU Commissioner for Trade & Industry's statement here:http://ti.au.int/fr2/sites/default/files/STATEMENT OF H.E. MRS. FATIMA HARAM ACYL COMMISSIONER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY -EN_0.pdf ; and the Business & Financial Times piece on the AU saying EPAs are "not a priority": http://downloads.twnafrica.org/epa0001-bft051211.pdf

In 2009, in his capacity as a “Do More Talk Less Ambassador” of the 42nd Generation—an NGO that promotes and discusses Pan-Africanism--Emmanuel gave a series of lectures on the role of ECOWAS and the AU in facilitating a Pan-African identity. Emmanuel owns "Critiquing Regionalism" (http://critiquing-regionalism.org). Established in 2004 as an initiative to respond to the dearth of knowledge on global regional integration initiatives worldwide, this non-profit blog features regional integration initiatives on MERCOSUR/EU/Africa/Asia and many others. You can reach him on [email protected] / Mobile: +233-268.687.653.

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