World Bank, others push ECOWAS integration agenda

Three institutions including the World Bank, have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in order to boost the overall development of West Africa, which has more than 300 million people.

The move is also meant to accelerate the process of regional integration in West Africa which has been on the table for many decades.

The commitment to this follows a tripartite meeting between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the World Bank Group.

According to a World Bank report copied to the Daily Graphic, “after two days of consultations, a couple of days ago in the Ivorian capital, the three institutions agreed to strengthen their cooperation in order to boost the overall development of West Africa.

The report quoted the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria and regional programmes coordinator for West Africa, Madam Marie-Francoise Marie Nelly as saying that, “Most of the states in the sub-region have good economic prospects, potential natural resources and a young population” adding that “These are real opportunities.”

However, she acknowledged what she described as major challenges, including low reliability of the transport systems; electricity, combined with the existence of numerous barriers to the movement of goods, capital and persons within the sub-region.

She noted that development and trans-border security issues in the Sahel region in particular, require leadership and political will of the ECOWAS leaders.

The World Bank Africa Region Vice-President, Mr Makhtar Diop, on his part, urged participants to speed up implementation of the sub-regional agenda to meet the development expectations of the citizens of the sub-region.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Kadré Desiré Ouedraogo, noted that "a great deal of effort has been made to integrate the sub region, despite many constraints”.

“We now need to accelerate the process through transformative and priority projects for our region, regarding notably security and stability, the free flow of goods and people, improving infrastructure such as energy and transport, the revival of agriculture and development capabilities,"  he added.

UEMOA Representative, Mr Christopher Joseph Dabiré, said that his institution would be more involved in the resolution of political and security crises that threaten the future of the sub-region.

At the conclusion of the meeting, participants welcomed the progress made so far and agreed to intensify their efforts in six major thematic areas, namely: energy, agriculture and trade, transport, security in the Sahel, Business Climate and Centers of Excellence.

Key recommendations

The meeting called for the implementation of reforms in air transport, and the removal of constraints of cost and inter-connectivity.

In the area of energy, the meeting stressed the need to unleash the potential of energy production of some member states and improve the performance of distribution companies.

It also noted the need to coordinate different approaches and development interventions in the Sahel by regional institutions.

In relation to agriculture, the meeting noted that the urgency in the implementation of regional agricultural policies that promote competition and market integration were key for immediate consideration.

The meeting also strongly recognised the business environment and trade facilitation, and called for the promotion of intra-African markets through a strong political will to overcome the barriers and obstacles to the movement of goods.

It urged the need to ensure consistency between World Bank financed projects and those of the UEMOA in the development of centres of excellence.

By Charles Benoni Okine/Daily Graphic/Ghana