By Iddi Yire
Accra, April 23, GNA – As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) begins its year-long Golden Jubilee Celebration, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, ECOWAS Commission President, has outlined the achievements of the regional bloc.
Speaking at the ECOWAS@50 Anniversary launch in Accra, Dr Touray said in marking the 50th anniversary, the objective was to celebrate, reflect and recalibrate the community
The ECOWAS Golden Jubilee Celebration launch, which was hosted by President John Dramani Mahama, was attended by Liberian President Joseph Boakai, Togolese Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah Dogbé, Mr Muhammad B. S. Jallow, the Vice President of The Gambia, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and representatives from all the 12-Member ECOWAS countries.
The event on the theme: “Stronger Together for a Brighter Future”, is the beginning of a string of activities that will take place in each member state of ECOWAS as a way of giving concrete expression for the ideal of ECOWAS of the people.
Dr Touray said in the current context, many would be forgiven for asking if there was anything about ECOWAS that should be celebrated.
“Our response to such cynicism is an emphatic yes, and I have my reasons,” he stated.
Dr Touray said firstly, ECOWAS was the most integrated community in Africa.
He said in a recent interview, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian Businessman lamented that he required visa for over 30 African countries.
“If an entrepreneur of Dangote’s caliber can go through such hassles, can you imagine what ordinary people go through to travel within the continent? Thank God, no ECOWAS Member State is among the countries that require Mr Dangote to have a visa,” Dr Touray said.
“This is because ECOWAS has adopted a free movement protocol that gives each ECOWAS citizen the right to visa-free movement, the right to residence and the right to establishment across the region.”
He said these freedoms make the ECOWAS community the most integrated regional economic community on the continent; saying “This is a good reason to celebrate”.
Secondly, ECOWAS had an effective trade liberalization scheme, which was the regional bloc’s preferential trade arrangement.
Dr Touray said since the inception of the trade liberalization scheme, more than 15,000 companies had been registered under the scheme and benefit from the preferential treatment within ECOWAS for more than 50,000 products.
He said the Interconnected System for the Management of Goods in Transit (SIGMAT) had been launched to connect national customs offices in the ECOWAS region to facilitate regional transit trade and increase the pace and ease of international trade.
He reiterated that the system was now fully operational in seven countries, adding that this together with the ECOWAS Common External Tariff was a good reason to celebrate.
Dr Touray said thirdly, ECOWAS had a promising regional energy and infrastructure programme.
He said the Community had developed a 25-year master plan, which comprised 201 regional projects covering all Member States and that these had been estimated to cost about $131 billion.
He noted that the four key sectors covered were transport, energy, telecommunication, and water resources.
He said within this context, key infrastructure projects had been launched, which include the Lagos-Abidjan Corridor Highway, as well as the Abidjan-Praya Corridor Highway, and several secondary corridors and joint border posts.
Dr Touray said the 1,028-kilometer Lagos-Abidjan Corridor Highway was one of the largest economic corridors on the continent.
He said about $42 million had been successfully mobilized to finance the technical preparatory studies of the project.
He said the feasibility and preliminary design studies which had been completed show a significant investment cost of nearly $15 billion, with an average economic rate of return of 15 per cent.
He said the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor was now ready for investment.
In the same vein, preparations were underway for the development of the Abidjan-Praya Corridor, that would consist of a maritime and shipping line from Praia in Cape Verde to
Dakar in Senegal, and a six-lane highway from Dakar in Senegal to Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, going through Banjul, Bissau, Freetown, and Monrovia.
Dr Touray said the technical and preparatory studies for these projects had commenced and were expected to be completed shortly.
He said, in addition, to these major corridors, other corridors include the Nigeria-Cameroon Highway and Transport Facilitation Programme, the Manor River Multinational Highway and Transport Facilitation Project.
“All these initiatives are a source of hope, and so are the joint border posts that seek to limit the duplication of procedures and paperwork at border crossings,” he stated.
He said in the energy sector, ECOWAS and international partners had embarked upon several generation and interconnection projects within the region; stating that these include electrification projects in the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali, through the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project.
He said similarly, electricity interconnection had been established with all 14 continental countries of the region.
He expressed the hope that the completion of the Information and Coordination Center of the West African Power Pool would enable Member States to buy and sell electricity within the region.
He said in this regard, the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Sector Regulatory Authority (ERERA) had been established here in Ghana with a mandate to regulate cross-border electricity exchange among ECOWAS Member States.
He said these efforts were being complemented by the Regional Off-Grip Electricity Access Project, launched by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.
He said the project that had an estimated cost of 340 million, sought to facilitate access to off-grid electricity for households, businesses, and public institutions.
Dr Touray, who said ECOWAS had solid socio-economic development programmes, went on to cite several such programmes such as the West African Regional Digital Integration, Regional Regulatory Framework on Rural, ECOWAS Competition and Investment Regime, ECOWAS Intervention through WAHO, the West African Health Organization, on Ebola, on COVID, on Mpox, as well as the initiatives in the area of education, including vocational education.
He also cited the Regional Food Reserves and Humanitarian Initiatives, the ECOWAS Rice Offensive, and Climate Smart Agricultural Projects.
Dr Touray said all these programmes and initiatives gave them hope and constituted a reason to celebrate; saying “But nothing is worth celebrating more than ECOWAS’ role in peace and security in the region”.
“Here, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau come to mind.”
He said it was the valiant ECOWAS Peacekeepers and several rounds of peace talks that brought peace to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.
He underscored that it was ECOWAS that ensured that the will of the people of the Gambia prevailed in 2016.
Dr Touray said these were accomplishments worth celebrating, and so were efforts geared towards the fight against organized crime, including piracy.
GNA
CA/