On Saturday, the 15 member-states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Accra for the 59th Heads of State Summit of the regional organisation. Chaired by Ghanaian President and ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government Nana Akufo-Addo, the meeting focused on: the COVID-19 pandemic; the recent coup in Mali; recent presidential elections in Benin and Niger and legislative elections in Cabo Verde and Côte d’Ivoire; terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria; regional and maritime security; humanitarian crises; economic recovery; free trade; border issues; and a monetary union.
Akufo-Addo was joined by Beninese President Patrice Talon, Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Cabo Verdean President Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, Gambian President Adama Barrow, Guinean President Alpha Condé, Guinea-Bissauan President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, Liberian President George Weah, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leonean President Juilius Maada Bio, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, Nigerien Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, and Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs Aïssata Tall Sall.
Following the summit, ECOWAS released a final communiqué. Here are the major talking points from the meeting:
COVID-19
The Community welcomed the vaccines received through the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX initiative and also applauded the G7’s commitment to deliver 100 million vaccines to developing and underdeveloped nations. At the same time, it also called on the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) to expedite the development of locally produced vaccines and introduce a ‘biometric passport’ to ensure safe travel across borders.
Regional Security and Democracy
ECOWAS upheld its decision to suspend the membership of Mali last month following junta leader Colonel Assimi Goïta’s decision to dismiss and detain President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister (PM) Moctar Ouane and name himself as the interim president. The Community noted the appointment of Choguel Maiga as the new PM and Goïta’s pledge to return the country to civilian rule through elections next February. To this end, it announced that it would deploy an election monitoring team to observe whether the election is free and fair.
The leaders pointed to the recent presidential elections in Benin and Niger and legislative elections in Cabo Verde and Côte d’Ivoire as examples of “successfully conduct[ed]” elections. Furthermore, they said that the regional body stands ready to “provide the necessary support” to Cabo Verde and Gambia ahead of their upcoming presidential elections, which will respectively be held in October and December.
Member-states also expressed their continued concern about the security situation in the region at large, drawing special attention to terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. In fact, they said that the political crisis in Mali could provide an opening for an increase in terrorist activity. Furthermore, they also voiced alarm over the “destabilising effect of the operations of mercenary groups from Libya,” and thus called for “international action” to disarm these groups.
They also called on members to “expedite [the] payment of their voluntary contributions” to the fund for the 2020-2024 Action Plan that is aimed at ‘eradicating’ regional terrorism.
On maritime safety and security, leaders called on members to “fully operationalise” the ECOWAS Maritime Security Architecture to ensure safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond.
The heads of state further said that ECOWAS must be strengthened to deliver more effective humanitarian responses as a result of the crises borne out of terrorism and climate change.
Economy
The Community attributed the contraction of West African economies by 0.8% in 2020 to the “negative effects of COVID-19,” but said that the region predicts 3.5% growth in 2021. ECOWAS said that the stimulus programs of governments must be supported by financing plans from developed countries, and in this regard welcomed the progress made at the recent Paris Summit for the Financing of African Economies and the debt relief offered by G20 countries.
They also praised the African Development Bank (AfDB) for contributing $22 million towards the WAHO to strengthen public health infrastructure across the continent and for its proposal to establish an African Financial Stability Mechanism to “protect the continent against external and internal shocks, as well as a Security-Indexed Investment Bonds to leverage resources on the global capital markets to reinforce security in the ECOWAS region.”
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
The AfCFTA has now been signed by 54 countries and been ratified by 37 others and ECOWAS used the summit to celebrate this ‘progress’.
Border Security
Also at the ECOWAS Heads of State Summit, Guinea and Senegal signed the Military and Technical Cooperation Agreement to reopen their shared land border, which was closed last year due to security concerns prior to Guinea’s presidential election in September.
Monetary Union
The Community announced that it would be delaying its plan to adopt a single currency, the “Eco,” until 2027. ECOAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said, “Due to the shock of the pandemic, the heads of state had decided to suspend the implementation of the convergence pact in 2020-2021,” adding, “We have a new road map and a new convergence pact that will cover the period between 2022-2026, and 2027 being the launch of the Eco.”
Ebola
ECOWAS congratulated Guinea for successfully ending its Ebola outbreak.
Future
ECOWAS’ next heads of state summit will be held in Abuja, Nigeria on 18 December, 2021.