ECOWAS at Forty: The Journey Going Forward
27 Dec 2015
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Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo
A number of factors have been advanced as the rationale for the formation of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS). One reason which has been advanced is that General YakubuGowon smarting from the Nigeria Civil War, intended to bring together the Francophone countries to prevent future hostilities such as experienced during the war.
Another reason often advanced is that ECOWAS was formed in response to UN’s promotion of regional integration efforts as a strategy to deal more effectively with peace, security and development issues.Yet another reason is that Nigeria’s medium and long term strategyto dominate the economy of West Africa was better anchored on such a platform in the sub-region.We may consider the veracity of these arguments and even more on another day.
Whatever was the motivation, the conclusion that can be reached is Nigeria’s Gen Yakubu Gowon and Togo’s GnassigbeEyadema, the two leaders behind the initiative could be said to have been visionary in conceiving the sub-regional organization.
It has been forty years since the ECOWAS took- off with 15 countries signing the Treaty in Lagos on May 28, 1975 and the protocols launching the organisationon November 5, 1976. The following year(1977), Cape Verde became the sixteenth member of the body. Since then, the organization has moved on in spite of the numerous challenges.
When Heads of States and Governments of the Member Nations converged on Abuja penultimate week to mark forty years of the organization, they had a justification. If nothing else, the fact that West African leaders meet frequently to discuss their common problems gives us some sense of brotherliness with assurances of a better future for the succeeding generations.
It is indeed a credit to the Authority of Heads of States and Governments that they have continued to meet in spite of the suspicions by the smaller nations of domination by the influential members like Nigeria and Ghana on one hand and certain unfavourable decisions on the other.One of suchunfavourable decisions led to the withdrawal of Mauritania from the organization in 1999 when member statesheld a Summit to sign a protocol for the Establishment of a Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, management and resolution and peace and security.
In the pursuit of its mandate for economic integration in the sub-region, ECOWAS has recorded a few achievements. The establishment of the ECOWAS Court and the ECOWAS Parliaments are notable achievements of the organization.
Similarly, the establishment of ECOWAS Commission at the Abuja Secretariat has placed the organization on a better path to champion integration efforts and also involve the West African peoples outside of state structures in the entire integration arrangement.
In this direction, the remarkable development has been the signing of the protocol on free movement of people and goods in the sub-regionwhich has eliminated the use of Visas by foreign nationals and collapsed state borders to allow for free movement of persons. By this instrument, the ECOWAS Travel Certificate has replaced Visas and National Passports as the basic travel document to be borne by all citizens of member states moving within the sub-region
The most remarkable achievement of ECOWAS so far has been the birth of the regional peace keeping arrangement better known as the ECOWAS Military Operations Group(ECOMOG) which was spearheaded by Nigeria in 1991 under the leadership of General Ibrahim Babangida. ECOMOG took-off as a child of circumstance when political crisis enveloped Liberia as rebel forces challenged the rule of President Samuel Doe. After several years of sustained engagement, ECOMOG was able to lead the peace keeping operations that ultimately restored peace, order, security and democracy in the war-torn Liberia.
Encouraged by the success recorded in Liberia, ECOMOG intervened in the political crisis in Sierra-Leone in 1993 and has remained a permanent structure for maintenance of peace and security in West-Africa. Since Sierra-Leone, ECOMOG has played key roles in ending the political violence in Cote d’Ivoire which arose out of election dispute between President LaurentGbagbo and his challenger, AlassanQuatarra, the incumbent President of Cote d’Ivoire. ECOMOG is actively involved in the peace process in Mali which has been assailed by civil strife ignited bysome extremist elements in the Northern parts of country, jostling for political power at the centre.
On the economic side, ECOWAS has ambitious plans in the pipelines. The proposed West African highway is one of such plans. The highway is intended to link all countries in the sub-region to ease movement of people. Closely related to this project is the West Africa Power Pool(WAPP) with headquarters in Benin republic with the mandate to coordinate the harnessing of the energy resources of the sub-region for the benefit of member nations. Before the arrival of WAPP however, the West African Gas pipeline project ensured that Nigeria supplied gas to Ghana and other West Countries for their power generation and other industrial activities.
The creation of a Regional Investment Guarantee Agency with $1billion capital at start from the US to mitigate political risks associated with investments in West Africa adds to the economic development initiatives of the body. Similarly, the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food(RAAF) with Headquarters in Lome, Togo is expected to help on the all important question of food security for the region.
On the flip side however, ECOWAS has failed to make any appreciable effort on the inauguration of a common currency, a development that would have really scaled up the integration efforts. The time line for the transformation of the West African Unit of Accounts(WAUA) into a common currency has been shifted on several occasions over the years with no hope its take-off in sight. A common currency in sub-region would have moved ECOWAS in the direction of the EU with the attendant benefits to the economies of member states.
Although the protocol on free movement of persons is in force, it appears to be working only on paper. In practical terms, non-nationals still face discrimination in a number of countries. Nigerian traders for instance have been subject of unfair taxation, discrimination and hostility in a number of countries including Ghana, where locals become uncomfortable with their dominance of certain sectors of the economy.
The seriousness of this problem has led to a number of initiatives by concerned nationals. The West African Peoples Assembly for instance is a non-governmental organization that has taken on the initiative to encourage inter-marriages within the sub-region with the hope that the integration of families across borders could deepen the integration process.
There is however, more that can be done in this direction. One measure could be the teaching of major languages of the sub-region in schools. Apart from English and French which are the lingua Franca in both the Anglophone and Francophone countries, other languages like Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Twi, Asante, Mandigo, Fulfude,etc should be introduced in schools across west Africa.
The EU since 1990 has ensured that undergraduates study at least two other European Languages other than their mother tongue. The reality in Europe today is that nearly all graduates speak their national languages in addition to one or two of the over a dozen languages spoken in the member countries of the Union.
Drawing from the success made by Nigeria on the Technical Aide Corps, ECOWAS can launch an aggressive students and youth exchange programme which would see West African youths either studying or working in other countries with in the ECOWAS sub-region for periods ranging from two-four years.
ECOWAS member countries must commit more seriously to funding the sub-regional body. Historically, Nigeria and a few countries have burnt the brunt of funding the Community’s annual budgets. This affects programme implementation and by extension slows down the integration efforts.
There is a lot that ECOWAS has to do. But ECOWAS has been too incremental in its approach. It is high time the sub-regional body got ambitious and embarked on measures that would fundamentally move the peoples of West Africa towards concrete integration other than the lip service that seems to characterize the present arrangement.
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