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Emmanuel.K. Bensah Jr.
A francophone account of the OSIWA-West Africa Institute seminar held in June in Lome, #Togo on #WestAfrican #integration
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Ivoirian Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said Africa must pursue deeper economic integration to fully benefit from its natural resources endowment. Duncan, who also serves as minister of finance and the economy, spoke at the opening of the 13th OECD International Economic Forum on Africa. The conference was held on 7 October in Paris under the theme “Africa 2.0: Harnessing natural resource wealth for economic transformation”. The Ivorian prime minister attributed the continent’s strong economic growth figures to increasing political and macroeconomic stability and the implementation of profound structural reforms. He said Africa must address employment and develop its human capital to achieve meaningful socio-economic transformation. Duncan was among many high-ranking officials from West Africa who attended the annual event, which brings together hundreds of political, business and civil society leaders to discuss Africa’s economic prospects and major challenges facing the continent. In his remarks, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said Africa’s economic strengths should be celebrated, but stakeholders must not become complacent. “We can pat ourselves on the back for two minutes today, but that is all,” he said. “The great things that Africa has done in the last decade have not yet gone far or deep enough.” Nigerian central bank governor Lamido Sanusi echoed the sentiment. “We have much further to go,” he said “In Nigeria, we are sitting on USD 25 billion of pension money, which we could be investing in meeting our own infrastructure needs, or in building our manufacturing and processing capacity. We grow tomatoes, and yet we import tomato paste.” The Forum was organised by the OECD Development Centre, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the French government and the European Union.
Political tensions simmered in Guinea as international observers raised concerns over the conduct of critical legislative elections. Voters went to the polls on 28 September to elect members of the National Assembly and complete a two-year transition to democratic rule. Two weeks after the balloting, the electoral commission has yet to release full results. Partial and provisional results from 36 of the 38 districts show the ruling party in the lead. Opposition leaders are sticking to their position that the vote should be annulled, citing widespread fraud including ballot stuffing, intimidation and underage voting. President Alpha Condé has dismissed the allegations and said the opposition should pursue the matter through the nation’s high court. “Every party has its view, but it is their responsibility to send their views to the Supreme Court, which is the only jurisdiction with the authority to decide,” he said in an interview with the AFP. A group of international diplomats and election observers issued a joint statement raising concerns about problems in eight districts. “Breaches and irregularities were observed in a certain number of constituencies, preventing a significant number of votes from being taken into account, and could therefore put into question the sincerity of certain results,” they said. The group includes ECOWAS representatives, UN envoy Said Djinnit, EU officials and the French and American ambassadors.
Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister has assured that an attack on the Nigerian embassy in Guinea-Bissau will not damage diplomatic relations between the two countries. The government in Bissau issued a swift apology after crowds armed with stones and bottles stormed Nigeria’s diplomatic mission on 8 October. Media reports said one person was killed. “Guinea-Bissau is a friendly country,” Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Nurudeen Mohammed said. “It was a rude shock to everybody.” The motive for the attack was unclear, with speculation ranging from rumours of Nigerian involvement in child abductions to animosity over Nigeria’s role in the country’s political transition. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan chairs the ECOWAS Contact Group on Guinea-Bissau, and Nigerian forces make up the bulk of the ECOWAS mission currently deployed in support of security sector reform in Guinea-Bissau. ECOWAS Commission President Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo strongly condemned the violence and called on Bissau to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice. “It is regrettable that at a time when ECOWAS and its member states, in particular Nigeria, are leaving no stone unturned in the efforts to keep Guinea-Bissau solvent and resolve the multiple crises facing her, misguided hoodlums in the country would turn against Community citizens in such a despicable manner,” he said, adding that the Commission remains committed aiding the return of constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau.
Military authorities from Benin, Niger, Nigeria and Togo have agreed on the modalities for co-operation on maritime security. The four countries make up zone E of the Gulf of Guinea maritime security architecture. Their chiefs of naval staff met from 25-26 September in Cotonou to map out a co-ordinated strategy for combatting piracy and other forms of organised crime in the area. The Chairman of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, General Soumaila Bakayoko, commended the participants for making “an important and courageous commitment” to countering maritime criminality in West Africa. “After the work of these two days, I note with satisfaction, the strong will of the naval chiefs to boost maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea,” he said. The four countries designated Benin as the location of the new Maritime Multi-national Co-ordination Centre (MMCC), which will serve as the operational hub for zone E. The ECOWAS Commission is tasked with ensuring the provision of material resources for the operationalisation of the Centre.
Immigration officials from ECOWAS member states discussed the possibility of introducing a biometric identification card for Community citizens as a means of facilitating their free movement throughout the sub-region. The proposal was the focus of consultations as government officials and immigration experts met in Abidjan in search of strategies to promote integration by removing obstacles to cross-border movement. Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the director of free movement for the ECOWAS Commission, Sanon Nfaly, said the proposal includes provisions to eliminate resident cards and do away with the 90-day limit for intra-Community travel without a visa. “This is a reform that is necessary, even imperative,” Nfaly said. ECOWAS already has taken steps, including the elimination of entry visas and the introduction of an ECOWAS-labelled passport, to make it easier for West Africans to travel or relocate within the region. Yet the application of the free movement protocol continues to face obstacles, including discrimination against non-nationals in the practice of certain professions.
Officials responsible for environmental stewardship launched a new network to share experiences and best practices in preventing and combatting environmental crimes. The West African Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (WANECE) held its inaugural meeting in Abuja. “When we work together in our sub-region, collaborate with each other, share experiences and exchange timely information, we can effectively police our national and sub-regional borders against clandestine and illegal traffic and dumping of toxic and hazardous wastes, as well as other forms of environmental crimes,” said Ngeri S. Benebo, the head of Nigeria’s National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), which hosted the meeting in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission. In a statement, the WANECE expressed concern over the environmental impact of the region’s increasing importation of toxic chemicals and second-hand electronics. “The region has few regulations in place to address the importation of hazardous chemicals and unwanted electronic waste; limited capacity to inspect incoming shipments at ports; and little ability to safely manage hazardous chemicals and recycling of electronics at the end of their useful life,” the statement said. One of the main objectives of the new network will be to support ECOWAS countries in developing appropriate polices to respond to these and other environmental threats.
Senegalese celebrated after it was revealed one of their compatriots is a member of the research team supporting the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine. James E. Rothman was awarded the prize, along with two other US-based scientists, for his work in the area of cell physiology. Their research explains how cells transport critical molecules from one place to another. The Senegalese physicist, Abdou Rachid Thiam, has been working with Rothman for the past two and a half years in his laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine in the United States. Thiam’s research focuses on lipid droplets, which supply energy to cells and support the healthy regulation of fat. Thiam is a native of Dakar, where he attended Lamine Guèye high school before pursuing higher education in France. He holds a PhD from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. An EU-funded grant allowed Thiam to pursue his research at Yale.
