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Final Statement of the Accra Conference about Morocco's Accession to ECOWAS

By African Media Agency - AMA
Morocco Final Statement of the Accra Conference about Morocco's Accession to ECOWAS
MAY 16, 2018 LISTEN

ACCRA, Ghana, May 16th, 2018, -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The Amadeus Institute, IMANI Center for Policy and Education and Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (CGEM) along with the Regional Alliance for Monitoring of the Moroccan Accession to ECOWAS, emphasize how the pragmatic discussions held today provide insights over the mutual interests for Morocco and Ghana to engage in a deepening of their economic and political relations. Ghanaian private sector and political representatives showed an enthusiastic support regarding Moroccan accession to ECOWAS, which will lead towards strengthening the regional Community.

There is an untapped potential for trade, investments and technical cooperation between the two countries which can be reversed with Morocco's integration. However, Moroccan and Ghanaian private sectors could undertake immediate initiatives to lay the ground for further sectorial talks.

Five sectors have been identified to strengthen bilateral ties for the benefit of the whole regional community. Firstly, investments in regional infrastructure projects, more specifically in the field of renewable energy, could lower logistical and production costs not only in Ghana, but also in neighbouring countries. Then, cooperation in agriculture and agribusiness could contribute to enhance food security in the region.

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Franklin Cudjoe, President and CEO of IMANI
Human capital, education and technologies should also lie at the heart of this shared agenda through student's mobility and incentives as well as investment in telecommunications' networks and cooperation in other high-tech facilities. Finally, we believe there is room for joint investment in the financial sector with the vision to expand financial inclusion within the Sub-saharan region.

As part of this agenda, and in the scope of a strengthening of the West African Community, an expanding intra-ECOWAS trade and a closer cooperation on monetary issues should contribute to set the ground for a successful single currency to be adopted.

At the occasion of this meeting, the business community representative institutions, Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (CGEM) and its Ghanaian counterpart, Ghanaian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCC) convene to create a joint Business Council. The Joint institution will produce recommendations targeting measures that favour trade between both countries, such as legal framework for movement of people and capital between Morocco and Ghana. This new joint institution will join the Regional Alliance for Monitoring of the Moroccan Accession to ECOWAS.

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