AU 6th mid year meeting: Tinubu addresses African leaders on the status of ECOWAS.
By Mtindiga Daniel
President of Nigeria His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has addressed African leaders on the status of the Economic Communities of West African States ECOWAS on Sunday July 21st 2024 in Accra, Ghana, highlighting the achievements made by the West African Economic Bloc and the challenges encountered.
President Tinubu who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government while disclosing the achievements of the Union in the past one year at the mid year coordination meeting pointed out that the community has activated Standby Force to tackle terrorism adding that, it will continue to explore funding alternatives.
He said “the ECOWAS has been supporting member states to enhance electoral and governance processes and recently Election Observation Mission to Senegal and Togo both of which elections were proved to be peaceful, fair and transparent.”
President Tinubu mentioned the facilitation of the signing of an agreement for National Unity in Sierra Leone, maintaining that the sub regional body will continue to work with stakeholders in the country to fully implement the agreement.
He equally disclosed that, consultations are ongoing to revise the ECOWAS 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democratic Democracy and Good Governance.
On Economic Integration he said, “ECOWAS has implemented activities to consolidate the free trade area, customs union and common market.
“We supported six Member States in ratifying the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement and Thirteen Member States have ratified the AFCFTA agreement.
“The ECOWAS Interconnected System for the Management of Goods in Transit (SIGMAT) is also functional in twelve Member States,” he noted.
The president while narrating the efforts on the humanitarian and social development emphasized that, ECOWAS has allocated $9 million to assist persons of concern, including internally displaced persons, asylum seekers and refugees, respectively.
“On education, the West African Network of National Academies of Sciences and the African Forum for Research and Innovation have been established. Our Regional Academic Mobility Scheme has continued to equip the youth with practical skills and is harmonizing educational systems.
” While in the area of Health, ECOWAS continues to provides support to women with obstetric fistula, empowered women entrepreneurs in agribusiness and focused on gender equality in education and the green economy,” he narrated.
Briefing on the progress of Energy, Mines and Agriculture the president revealed that, ECOWAS is advancing electrification efforts in the Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Mali through the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOREAP).
“It is also implementing the Regional Off Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP).32 Solar Off Grid SMEs have been approved, including 9 SMEs led by women. A total of 3 million US dollars will be disbursed to finance the SMEs. More than 400 SMEs in 13 countries were trained in 2023 and 2024.
“To achieve sustainable electricity access within the ECOWAS and Sahel countries, we will provide a total grant of 38 million US dollars to SMEs in Member States. ECOWAS will extend this to Mauritania, Central African Republic, Chad and Cameroon through Commercial and Financial Institutions. An additional loan of 140 million US dollars will also be made available to the solar SMEs.
” Within the time under review, ECOWAS has supported Experts from Member States in International meetings and negotiations on environmental issues, including environmental governance. We provided support to our Member in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the establishment of a regional carbon market.
“With respect to Food Security, our support for pastoralism in the Sahel has targeted the improvement of animal health with record vaccination of over 490 million livestock. We have established common rules for controlling Veterinary medicine products at borders. Similarly, ECOWAS launched a project for Member States to access the Green Climate Fund. This will promote climate smart agriculture through the use of technologies.
“On other ECOWAS institutions he disclosed that, the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament elected it’s first female president,the Right Honorable Maimunatu Ibrahim from Togo.the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice also reviewed fifteen new cases,held thirty three Court sessions and delivered eleven judgements,” he stated.
He however emphasized that, the bloc faces multiple threats including Member States withdrawing, geopolitical rivalries, terrorism, food insecurity, climate change and the spread of misinformation and disinformation, respectively.
He however,reiterated that, ECOWAS will continue to dialogue with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to maintain unity and will convene a Special Extra-ordinary Summit on the future of the Community.
He finally disclosed that, ECOWAS Commission has assumed the rotating Chairmanship of the Inter-REC platform in February, 2024 adding that this year, the ECOWAS Commission hosted the East African Community EAC and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGAD to exchange views on issues and review best practices.
