Niamey, 25 May 2016 (ECA) - The Economic Commission for Africa carried out a study on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) entitled "ECOWAS at 40: An Assessment of the Progress Made towards Regional Integration in West Africa".
The study presents progress made by the ECOWAS towards the integration of the region since its inception in 1975, the challenges faced by the Institution as well as the ways and means of overcoming the later so as to meet the objectives set by its founding fathers.
While receiving the study, ECOWAS Member States, in a note signed by the Commissioner in charge of Macroeconomic Policies and Research, addressed to the Director of the ECA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, "heartily thanked and congratulated ECA for its tremendous contribution to the Institution, and also for the vision and innovations introduced within the last few years in the partnership between our two Institutions".
This study, which was carried out in a bid to accompany ECOWAS in its fiftieth anniversary celebration, (i) assesses integration efforts since the establishment of ECOWAS in 1975; (ii) enhances the understanding of the regional integration process in the ECOWAS sub-region; (iii) evaluates performances in the sub-region and West African countries with regard to sub-regional integration; (iv) identifies the problems and challenges faced by Member States and the various stakeholders in their journey towards sub-regional integration; and (v) proposes possible solutions to address the problems that have been identified in view of speeding up the integration process in the sub-region.
The study, thus, notes that in forty years, ECOWAS, which is made up of 15 Member States, has been able to build a solid institutional foundation, which makes it an internationally recognized Organization. It also strives to adopt protocols and define policies and programs covering almost all areas of integration identified in the original Treaty and the revised Treaty.
Currently, ECOWAS must reach another level, by building its operational abilities and generating tangible impacts on Member States and their citizens. Therefore, according to the study, it could fully meet its targets set in the Constitutive Treaty and celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in 2025 by becoming a successful model of Regional Economic Community in Africa.
In the words of Mr Dimitri Sanga, Director of the ECA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, who supervised the study, "the analysis of an institutional organisation and sector policies of the ECOWAS Commission has shown that this Community is generally an advanced model of integration in the wider context of the African Union". He then predicted that "the content of this study will contribute to improving and accelerating the process of regional integration and the march towards continental integration advocated by the African Union".
This study consists of six parts, with the first emphasizing the theoretical and practical rationale behind the integration process for West African countries. The second describes ECOWAS and its future development. The third part reviews the main common sector policies, the relevance of the choices of macroeconomic harmonization measures and convergence criteria. The fourth part assesses ECOWAS sector policies on the progress of regional integration and the economic and social development of its Member States. The fifth part examines the different stages in the process of sub-regional integration and their contribution to continental integration and ongoing efforts at ECA in designing a Synthetic Regional Integration Index. The sixth part analyses major challenges faced by ECOWAS.
Finally, the report makes several recommendations towards greater efficiency in fostering regional integration in West Africa thereby contributing to continental integration as advocated by the African Union.
Click here to access the Study
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org