ECOWAS Business News

All Hail the Lome Declaration on Peace, Security, Stability, Fight against Terrorism & Violent Extremism By E.K.Bensah Jr ECOWAS is not known for imaginative titles for its Summits, but this title probably takes the biscuit for being the longest title of all time! In one foul sweep, the title, predictably, speaks volumes. In another sweep, it is off-putting in the quasi-Byzantine conceptions it suggests. In his much-acclaimed "Evolution of the Diplomatic Method", British author Harold Nicholson describes the French, especially in diplomatic circles, being "intoxicated by the wine of logical expression" in all their communication. Same can be said with the average ECOWAS Summit, where the unsung heroes in our English translators/interpreters burn the midnight oil to ensure a French expression is captured as succinctly as possible in the English. These technocrats call it "le mot juste", which signifies identifying the "right word". Suffice-to-...

Third World Network-Africa              31 st  July 2018 ECOWAS Multi-stakeholder Dialogue Calls for Concerns on AfCFTA to be Addressed   Concerns over the content, process and speed of negotiations of Africa's Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) persist despite incessant calls for improvement in these areas of the negotiations. These came up at an ECOWAS Regional multi-stakeholder Dialogue on the issues and implications of Africa's Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, from 26 to 27 July 2018. This was a regional follow-up to an Africa-wide consultation held earlier in Accra.   The dialogue brought together over fifty (50) participants comprising policy officials from the Africa Union Commission (AUC), ECOWAS Commission, senior government officials from ECOWAS member countries, the private sector, civil society organisations, research institutions, academia, trade unions, women groups and the media across West Africa. There were other re...

Back in 2012, my piece " Towards an ECOWAS-ECCAS Collaborative Framework " was audacious in calling for both West and Central Africa to come together. I cited maritime piracy, and the fight against Boko Haram as some of the reasons why it made sense the two regions come together. Now, six years later, the duty-bearers in these two regions have finally seen the light and decided to hold a joint summit. In 2017, the AU's Department of Political Affairs organised its annual Regional Youth Consultation at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja , bringing together youth from both West and Central Africa in recognition of the fact that the two regions needed to have important conversations together to fight common threats and challenges. That the meeting is taking place at a time when West Africa faces threats of terrorism from Boko Haram, and the insurgency around the Sahel, for which reason the G5 Sahel group was established, makes for very interesting times. The 14 June signi...

If the AU's Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) is one of the AU;s best-kept secrets on committing governments to dedicate 10% of their budget to agriculture, then Post-Harvest Losses (PHL) may be yet-another acronym that remains an even bigger secret.   There can be no food without a structured agricultural sector, but recent studies indicate that, currently, a third of all food produced fr human consumption is lost or wasted from the farm to the consumers. In a statement copied to Ecowas Business News from the AU's Department on Agriculture and Rural Economy, the African Union Commission, Food and Agriculture Organisation, and Rockefeller Foundation closed a two-day meeting on 27th July, with an an expected outcome of a Continental Post-Harvest Strategy. So far, five out of fifty-five countries -- Malawi, Mauritania, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda -- are on track towards achieving the post-harvest loss target by 2025. Togo is clearly th...

Jean-Claude Kassi Brou to officially be sworn-in as ECOWAS Commission president on 31 July 2018 Lome, 27 th July 2018.  The 53rd ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) scheduled to take place on 31 July 2018 in Lomé, Togo, will also feature the swearing-in of the new President of the regional organisation, Cote d'Ivoire's Jean-Claude Kassi Brou. It was at the end of their 52nd ordinary session held on 16 December 2017 in Abuja, Nigeria, that the West African leaders allocated the position of ECOWAS Commission President to Cote d'Ivoire. They also approved the appointment of Jean-Claude Kassi Brou to the position for a term of four (4) years, effective 1st March 2018.  Until his appointment as President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou was Cote d'Ivoire's Minister of Industry and Mines since October 2012. From 1991 to 1995, he served as Economic ...

According to TVC news, Togo is to host the first-ever Summit of Heads of state of ECOWAS and CEMAC. Our checks indicate that the Summit is between ECOWAS and the Economic Community of Central African States(ECCAS) . The Summit is scheduled for 30 July, with the Ordinary Summit taking place on 31 July. Stay tuned!  Source:  https://tvcnews.tv/2018/07/togo-bans-demonstrations-ahead-of-ecowas-joint-summit/

Demystify. Unpack. Explain PRESS RELEASE Nairobi, Kenya July 25, 2018 – The African Union Commission, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Rockefeller Foundation, are engaged in a two-day High-level meeting with key stakeholders to develop policies and strategies for country specific plans to reduce post-harvest losses , in response to the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation (3AGT) . The 2014 AU Malabo Declaration commits AU member states to reduce the current levels of PHL by 50 percent, thereby contributing to the goal to end hunger in Africa by 2025. The outcomes of the forum will contribute to stronger coordination of food loss reduction initiatives and improved alignment to the Malabo Declaration Implementation Roadmap, while improving the capacity of African Union Member States in the design and implementation of food loss reduction policies, strategies and related investme...

The Accidental ECOWAS & AU Citizen: HERE ARE THREE WAYS ORDINARY GHANAIANS CAN BENEFIT FROM ECOWAS: ECOWAS BIOMETRIC ID CARD: Free movement under ECOWAS already allows citizens to travel freely without a visa. This has been happening since 1979.The ECOWAS Biometric ID Card in many ways democratizes the ECOWAS identity by allowing everyone, including posterity, to possess an ID Card that allows you to travel throughout the sub-region WITHOUT YOUR PASSPORT. Although recent worrying reports from Cote d'Ivoire that the country does not want to allow use of ECOWAS BIOMETRIC ID Cards without a passport are a source of concern, the idea is for cards to be standard fare even when you forget your passport at home. Passports will be for travel OUTSIDE the ECOWAS zone, but cards should be accepted at the point of entries of ECOWAS Member States. ( http://www.presidence.sn/en/newsroom/ecowas-biometric-id-card-the-10-facts-you-need-to-know_1118 ) ECOWAS YOUTH VOLUNTEER SCHEME: If you ar...

ECOWAS Volunteers Scheme to Unveil E-Platform By E.K.Bensah Jr Whoever said Africa was not capable of managing its own affairs had yet to encounter the ECOWAS Volunteers Scheme. To ECOWAS insiders, it’s the de facto “Marshall Plan” of ECOWAS that seeks to uplift the Mano River Union countries embedded within ECOWAS -- Liberia; Sierra Leone; Guinea-Bissau -- from extreme poverty. To others, it’s a largely-unknown attempt to address the deep unemployment affecting the youth across West Africa. Bukola Ayoola is a former ECOWAS Volunteer  For Bukola Ayoola, Country Coordinator for Liberia of the ECOWAS Volunteers Scheme (EYVS) at the Office of the Special Representative in Liberia, the opportunity for the ECOWAS Volunteers Scheme to address youth unemployment is something she is very passionate about. Cutting an assuming and humble figure, I first met her in Liberia for an ECOWAS meeting in January. I was impressed by the wealth of experience she has, consideri...