ECOWAS leaders arrive for summit
Three West African leaders arrived in Accra yesterday to attend the 47th Ordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which opens today.
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They are the Malian President, Mr Ibrahim Boubakar Keita; the transitional President of Burkina Faso, Mr Michel Kafando, and the Liberian President, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
At the time of filing this report, the Senegalese President, Mr Macky Sall; the Gambian Leader, Mr Yahaya Jameh, or his representative, and his Togolese counterpart, Mr Faure Gnassingbe, were yet to arrive in Accra.
The rest are expected to arrive today.
Agenda
Top on the agenda are the election of a new Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, the Ebola viral disease and scheduled dates to mark the 40th anniversary of ECOWAS.
The venue for the meeting was originally Nigeria but it was shifted to Ghana because of security concerns.
President Goodluck Jonathan was expected to take over the chairmanship of ECOWAS at the meeting but his defeat at the elections has left that position open.
Some analysts hold the view that President John Mahama, who, in his capacity as the ECOWAS Chairman superintended the just-ended elections in Nigeria and Togo, should be given an extended mandate to chair the sub-regional bloc.
Mr Mahama has been lauded for the support he canvassed for countries in the sub-region that were hard hit by the Ebola viral disease.
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Background
ECOWAS is a regional group of 15 West African countries.
Founded on May 28, 1975 with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region.
Considered one of the pillars of the African Economic Community, the sub-regional bloc was founded in order to achieve what is known as "collective self-sufficiency" for its member states by creating a single large trading bloc through an economic and trading union.
It also serves as a peacekeeping force in the region.
ECOWAS is made up of two institutions charges to implement policies — the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for investment
and Development, formerly known as the Fund for Cooperation until it was renamed in 2001.
Membership of the organisation has changed over the years. In 1976, Cape Verde joined ECOWAS, while in December 2000 Mauritania withdrew, having announced its intention to do so in December 1999.
Writer’s email: sebastian.syme4@gmail.com