Focus on ECOWAS


The start of the 39th Ordinary Summit of Ecowas Heads of State and Government, held in Abuja


in dealing with peace and security challenges in the region. With the transformation of the


Also honoured for their


contributions were two key technocrats – Prof. Adebayo Adedeji of Nigeria (the one-time executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa), and Edem Kodjo, the former prime minister of Togo and a former secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Te 39th Ordinary Summit was attended by most West African leaders, and was presided over by Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, whose country was elected for another term as chairman of the organisation. Te Summit discussed the


development challenges facing the region, including economic growth, further efforts at integration, and good governance under its democratic project. Te Ecowas Commission is implementing a regional “Roadmap for a Single Currency Programme” which was adopted in May 2009 by its Convergence Council. A common currency called the Eco, to be used by five Ecowas member states under the second monetary zone, is expected to eventually merge with the existing Francophone common currency, the CFA franc, into a single regional currency. Ecowas is also intensifying efforts for the realisation of a common trading zone, common market and


56 | June 2011 New African


“Ecowas is intensifying efforts to create a common trading zone, common market and customs union. Te building blocks are being put in place for an eventual borderless West Africa.”


customs union. Tis will involve an Ecowas Common External Tariff (CET). Also important is advancing the


right of citizens to work, settle and own businesses in other member states. As a result, the major infrastructure and building blocks are being put in place for an eventual borderless West Africa. So far, thanks to the help of the


international community, Ecowas has been able to find solutions to the conflicts that swept through the region in the 1990s and early 2000 through combining peacekeeping with peace enforcement and diplomacy. Te internationally acknowledged


achievements of the Ecowas peacekeeping force, Ecomog, are not only well documented but have become a model for international conflict prevention, management and resolution. Ecowas has since developed a mechanism for early warning, conflict prevention and a standby force. Tis instrument has proved very useful


Secretariat into a Commission, Ecowas now has a president assisted by a vice- president and seven commissioners who provide leadership in the Commission’s seven strategic departments. With this change, which is in line with global trends, other economic blocs and partners now find it easier to deal with the 15-nation grouping, and Ecowas itself has found it easier to coordinate and respond to external matters affecting its members, such as the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union. A growing number of foreign


countries now have their ambassadors accredited to Ecowas as permanent representatives. To overcome the reliance on membership subventions, Ecowas levies excise duty and tax on goods coming into the region. A wholesale change of Ecowas commissioners and the Commission’s president and vice-president is on the cards, with the usual spirit of consensus and compromise expected to prevail in filling these positions. Today, Ecowas appears to serve as


“a one-stop shop” for member states in responding to international development and related issues. Tis, according to the President of the Commission, Ambassador Victor Gbeho of Ghana, “is acting in a coordinated response to the realisation of Ecowas’ Vision 2020” – the date by which the group hopes to attain an “Ecowas of people”. In recent years, Ecowas has gradually


added to its original objectives of economic integration by laying new emphasis on good governance, the practice of democracy, fostering free and fair elections and the guarantee of basic rights to its citizens. Driving towards the creation of an “Ecowas of people”, it is seeking to instigate a “borderless region” where residents have one Ecowas passport and are united by one Ecowas citizenship.


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