Accra, Aug. 7, GNA – The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) has officially released the 2022 edition of the West Africa Development Outlook (WADO).
WADO takes stock of socioeconomic developments of the previous year and presents a macroeconomic outlook for the year 2022.
It discusses the socio-economic challenges of the times and postulates policy interventions that could help ease these challenges.
The 2022 WADO, which is on the theme: “Navigating Global Shocks through Structural Transformation and Trade”, also discusses how the ECOWAS sub-region can mitigate the recent price escalation by increasing local production capacities, improving intra-regional trade and embarking on a deliberate structural transformation agenda.
An official statement copied the GNA said the document also discussed the causes of the recent price hikes as being structural and the need for cautious monetary policy interventions.
Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, emphasised the importance of the review of key economic indicators as a way of highlighting the impact of recent global events on ECOWAS economies and postulating mitigating actions for policy makers’ consideration.
He stated that the WADO also highlighted the opportunities and threats in the sub-region to guide the investment decisions of existing and would-be investors.
The Director of Research and Strategic Planning of the Bank, Mr. MacDonald Saye Goanue, spoke about the challenging macroeconomic environment the Community was facing as a result of which growth prospects had been downgraded.
The elevated food and energy prices pose a great risk to fiscal consolidation and debt sustainability, while threatening to increase current account deficits and exerting pressure on local currencies.
There is the need for fiscal and monetary policy synchronicity to successfully navigate these challenges.
EBID is a leading regional investment and development bank, owned by the fifteen (15) ECOWAS Member States, namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Based in Lomé, Togolese Republic, the Bank is committed to financing developmental projects and programmes covering diverse initiatives from infrastructure and basic amenities, rural development and environment, industry, and social services sectors, through its private and public sector windows.
EBID intervenes through long, medium, and short-term loans, equity participation, lines of credit, refinancing, financial engineering operations and related services.
GNA