ECOWAS Can Survive Only On Regional Structures

The 36th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) opened in Abuja, Nigeria, yesterday with an urgent call on the leaders to seriously address problems hindering the effective integration of West Africa.

That, according to the Chairman of ECOWAS and Nigerian President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, had become very critical to speed up the regional integration process as one of the measures to withstand the effects of the global financial crisis.

Among other things, he urged member states to re-direct their resources to building regional infrastructures that would enhance trade and drive economic development.

Describing the current slow pace of the sub-region's integration process as regrettable, Alhaji Yar'Adua said, it was sad that after 30 years of signing the protocol on free movement of goods and services, “we are yet to significantly remove the bottlenecks at our borders which continue to hinder and encumber effective economic integration.

“The reality of the global economic situation today makes it critical for us to recommit to investing in the relevant protocols with the requisite political will,” he told his colleagues and Ministers, as he set the tone for deliberations.

The one-day session, which comes in the wake of severe economic and political challenges facing the sub-region, was used to find a way of consolidating the unity and cooperation among members states towards addressing the challenges.

In the face of the challenges, President Yar'Adua reminded his colleagues, “we have an abiding obligation to provide a strong and focused leadership within the ambit of ECOWAS.”

Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, President of ECOWAS Commission, also painted an unfavourable picture of the sub-region's development, saying that since the last summit in December 2008, the economic prospects of the sub region had become gloomy, characterised by the global economic meltdown and political instability in some countries.

“These prospects continue to be marred by the international financial crisis which is biting hard into the fabric of the global economy, leaving behind a spate of woes such as a reduction in the flow of investments to our countries, reduction in the volume and prices of our exports, diminished overseas remittances as well as reduced inflow of tourists. 

All these factors exacerbate an already fragile economic situation in our region and slow down the growth of our economies,” he said.

Stressing the need for effective integration, he noted that the general nature of the pressures on the world and the weakness of the region's economies had made it impossible for any member state to be able to confront them alone.

To reverse those negative trends, he said there was the need for member states to improve their production capacities and become less dependent on the proceeds from exports of unprocessed agricultural and mineral resources. 

“This is the best way to create employment, improve economic growth and get integrated into the global economy, benefiting from it to be able to effectively combat poverty,” he said.

He noted that it was for that reason that ECOWAS took seriously the negotiations of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with its largest trading partner, the European Union.

”For the EPA to fully satisfy the objectives of poverty reduction that we desire, the sub-region must provide an appropriate and favourable environment to investments which in the first instance must be through political and domestic economic stability.

“We shall continue to impress upon our European partners so that the Agreement will have a strong development dimension with an offer of market access compatible with our level of development and significant resources from the programmes and projects of the EPA Support Programme,” he assured.

He also urged member states to continue to seek mutually beneficial partnerships with others in order to take maximum advantage of the opportunities of globalisation.

Dr. Chambas noted that in the quest for a united, integrated and developed Africa, the African Union had just sent a strong signal in achieving the integration of the continent with the proposed regrouping of three East and South African regional organisations, namely the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADEC) and East African Community (EAC) into one single free trade area of 600 million inhabitants.

That area, he explained, would merge with ECOWAS, which had 280 million inhabitants, to bring to reality, with the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the dream of the founding fathers of the OAU for the unity of the continent. 

To enable ECOWAS to meet this all important programme in the history of the commitment for the welfare of the citizenry, he said, member states needed to comply with all their commitments. 

“To this end, member states must implement all community decisions, especially those on free movement of persons, common external tariffs, harmonisation of sectoral regulations and policies for the realisation of an effective West African Common Market which the states are aspiring to implement. 

“ECOWAS and UEMOA must also accelerate the convergence of their regional integration policies and programmes so that we are not left behind by our East and Southern African colleagues,” he said. 

“Improved regional integration process will enable member states to bring common solutions and collective actions to meet the various development challenges,” he said.

Ban Kin Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, in a message read for him, encouraged ECOWAS to do more to address the perennial political and economic challenges that continued to set the sub-region back.

He assured ECOWAS of the UN's support and collaboration in finding solutions to the problems that hinder the progress of the region.