Ghana, ECOWAS, and India-based NGO CUTS' Opening of Office in Accra

from: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=973584

Ghanaians Should Be Bilingual In English, French To Materialize Ecowas Vision, Says FM

ACCRA, Aug 29 (BERNAMA-NNN-GNA) -- Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hannah Tetteh, has recommended that Ghana should be a bi-lingual country with its citizens speaking both English and French to help materialize the vision of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

Unless Ecowas member states became fully committed to the total eradication of artificial barriers which constituted major impediments to the free movement of people, goods and services across the region, the vision of Ecowas would not be realised, she said Wednesday.

For 38 years, the common problems which motivated the founding fathers to establish Ecowas as a regional economic community still lingered, Tetteh said in a lecture on "Regional Integration as a Tool for Poverty Reduction in West Africa" at a ceremony to inaugurate the Consumer Utility and Trust Society (CUTS) International, a non-governmental organization (NGO) think tank involved in conducting research and engaging in network-based advocacy in trade, regulation and governance.

CUTS has opened its third international office in Africa in Accra after those of Lusaka and Nairobi. The lecture also marked the 8th CUTS 30th Anniversary Lecture.

Tetteh said an educated and capable human resource remained indispensable to the efficient exploitation of the sub-region's enormous resource for its development. "It is undoubtedly the panacea to the widespread poverty, technological backwardness and economic and social deprivation of the West African sub-region," she added.

She appealed to Ecowas member states to consciously increase budgetary allocations to education as a strategy to produce intelligent, creative, capable and reliable workforce to drive the desired economic growth and sustainable development which she said was a prerequisite for poverty reduction.

Ecowas groups Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

-- BERNAMA-NNN-GNA

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West Africa and HelloFood!: a New way of Eating Out!

West Africans love their food, and already a new service dedicated to providing one with food quickly is finding its home in the sub-region. Already in three West African countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria), HelloFood is proving to be a service of choice for an increasing urban and growing middle-class already in the sub-region, and that is ready to spend a little on eating-out

The service is pretty simple. Once you are able to download it from Google Play onto your Android device, you get access to the best restaurants in town. HelloFood prides itself in offering a fast and reliable service—as exemplified by the almost-approximate time it details for delivery on the service.

Most interestingly, you pay-on-delivery, and it does not cost any less than you would have bought it from a restaurant!

ECOWAS NATIONAL UNITS TO VALIDATE OPERATIONAL MANUAL

FROM: http://news.ecowas.int/presseshow.php?nb=243&lang=en&annee=2013

ECOWAS NATIONAL UNITS TO VALIDATE OPERATIONAL MANUAL

A three-day annual meeting of the ECOWAS National Units is underway in Abuja to 

finalize and validate a draft Operational Manual to be submitted later this year 

to the Council of Ministers for adoption.

The meeting, which opened on Monday 19th August 2013, under the chairmanship of 

the ECOWAS Commissioner for Administration and Finance, Mrs. Khadi Ramatu 

Saccoh, will also provide participants with the opportunity to share experiences 

on regional integration programmes in Member States.

They are also expected to discuss how to enhance ECOWAS visibility and 

strengthen the countries' participation in the implementation of integration 

programmes to ensure effective ownership.

The 65th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers in its report urged the 

ECOWAS Commission to develop a detailed operational manual with supplementary 

guiding principles.

To this end, ECOWAS Institutions, special representatives and National Units at 

their recent 7th Joint Retreat, agreed that the draft Operational Manual should 

be sent to the Heads of the National Units for consideration and comments prior 

to its adoption by the statutory authorities.

Consequently, the document was submitted to Member States and their observations 

were incorporated in the draft Manual for validation by the Abuja meeting.

The operational manual, among others, details the functions, structure, 

institutional mechanisms as well as the financial management procedures of 

National Units, which are charged with the coordination of regional integration 

issues in each member state. 

Apart from Heads of National Units, officials of the ECOWAS Commission's 

Directorates of External Affairs, Finance, Legal Affairs, Conference and 

Protocol, Communication, Human Resources, Community Computer Centre as well as 

Monitoring and Evaluation Unit are also attending the meeting.

The UN Economic Commission for Africa wants to know YOUR views on Single AFRICAN currency

The decision by Africa to have a single currency has been a long-contested issue in African integration circles.

In 2009, the AU-sponsored First Congress of African Economists discussed it as a theme.

Today, on Facebook, UNECA's Joseph Atta-Mensa, working on a paper on that theme, asks your views on the topic. Is it feasible? Is it workable? Can be achieved on time, etc.

Join the discussion on his facebook timeline now: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.attamensah/posts/10201994965903682?notif_t=close_friend_activity

See you there!

Emmanuel

from: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/pressreleases/ecowas-urged-to-finalize-regional-mining-code

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ECOWAS urged to finalize regional mining code

Aug 22, 2013

US Members of Congress join the chorus in support of community rights in the mining industry

For more information, contact:

• Laura Rusu, Policy and Campaigns Media Manager 
  (202) 496-1169 (office) 
  (202) 459-3739 (mobile) 
  lrusu@oxfamamerica.org

WASHINGTON, DC – International relief and development organization Oxfam America called on the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) to swiftly finalize a regional mining code that would help protect the basic rights of local communities when oil and mining companies want to move in.

The call came as a bipartisan group of ten members of the US Congress sent a letter to the ECOWAS leadership and the presidents of member countries to urge them to move forward with the development and adoption of the ECOWAS Mining Code as expeditiously as possible.

"An ECOWAS mining code is desperately needed to protect the rights of communities to express their free, prior and informed consent when facing mining companies," said Keith Slack, Oxfam America's global program manager for extractive industries. "For the millions of people living near mining sites across West Africa – many who struggle to survive on less than $2 a day— the resource curse doesn't mean a share of the wealth, it means environmental damage, loss of land and human rights abuses."

Revenues from the mining and oil industry form an important part of the economies of many West African countries, but too often, poor communities have no say in the extraction of resources from their land and receive little information about these projects. And instead of this money getting used to build roads, schools and hospitals for Africa's people, it in fact often leads to human rights abuses, more poverty and powerlessness.

"We are concerned that West Africa's vast mineral wealth has too often been a source of conflict, violence and corruption," said the Congressional letter signed by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Karen Bass (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Bill Keating (D-MA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and David Cicilline (D-RI). "We believe that by creating uniform high standards across the region, the ECOWAS Mining Code will make a very significant contribution towards ensuring that West Africa's mineral wealth benefits its poor populations."

The Congressional letter also urged the leadership of ECOWAS to not only include a requirement for companies to seek free, prior, and informed consent prior to the beginning of mining operations, but also to disclose the tax and royalty payments to countries for the rights to drill or mine. This is consistent with Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which requires US and foreign companies registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to publicly report how much they pay governments for access to their oil, gas and minerals.

Transparency in this sector is an un-tapped potential for development," said Moussa Ba, Oxfam America's West Africa extractive industries program coordinator. "Armed with the knowledge of how much money oil and mining companies dole out to their governments, African citizens can claim their rights and fight for their own development."

- See more at: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/pressreleases/ecowas-urged-to-finalize-regional-mining-code#sthash.Mqpm3Ao6.dpuf

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WEST AFRICA: Niger to Ivory Coast rail link lays tracks for African infrastructure expansion

Niger to Ivory Coast rail link lays tracks for African infrastructure expansion

New line from Niamey to Abidjan expected to bolster regional trade, but critics urge focus on people rather than goods

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• Afua Hirsch, west Africa correspondent
• theguardian.com, Monday 19 August 2013 07.00 BST

Dimbokro station, Ivory Coast. The new rail link will connect Abidjan with the Nigerien capital, Niamey. Photograph: Tommy Trenchard/Alamy

A seven-year railway project to connect Niger and Ivory Coast is to begin next year as part of renewed efforts to improve rail infrastructure in the region.

The railway would link Niamey, the capital of landlocked Niger, with the Ivorian commercial hub of Abidjan, via the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, after the extension of mining activities in west Africa.

The line would extend the existing railway that runs from Ouagadougou to Tambao, a lucrative manganese mine in the remote north east of Burkina Faso, near the border with Niger and Mali.

"This new railway will enhance trade between Côte d'Ivoire on the coast and Burkina Faso and Niger," said Bernard Abeiku Arthur, a transport expert working on a World Bank project to increase transport infrastructure in the region. "It is something that has been talked about by French engineering firms for years, to access the port of Abidjan, and link it with the raw materials that would be on that particular line."

The Niamey-Abidjan initiative is believed to be funded by the EU and French governments, with private investment from the Romanian industrialist Frank Timiş, whose company, Pan African Minerals, secured the rights to develop Tambao after a long history of legal squabblesbetween the government of Burkina Faso and several successive prospectors.

Timiş, known in Romania as the "emperor of west Africa", is expected to make billions from the exploitation of manganese at Tambao. The construction of the railway has been central to plans to exploit manganese at the mine since it was discovered in 1959. Tambao is expected to yield up to 1m tonnes a year.

Timiş is reported to be locked in a fierce rivalry with French billionaire Vincent Bolloré – whose eponymous congolomerate is investing in numerous infrastructure projects in west and central Africa, including a $100m high-speed rail project in Cameroon – for domination of African rail infrastructure, seen as key to controlling untapped mineral wealth. Neither Timiş nor Pan African Minerals were available to comment on the railway plans.

But the extension of the Ouagadougou-Tambao railway to Niger would represent a major infrastructure development in the country, which has no functioning railways.

"We desperately need railways," said Moussa Akfar, a Niamey resident. "Our roads are not practical. They are in such poor condition – it can take hours just to travel 100km. But these plans to create railway links with the ports in Cotonou and Abidjan are only concerned with transporting goods. They will not make it easier for people to move around."

A spokesperson from the Burkina Faso government confirmed that, up to now, the railway line has been used only for the transportation of manganese. "The railway has been running for some months, but so far it is only used for transporting manganese," said Zound Ali Zeta, from the Burkina Faso ministry of mines. "As to whether it will carry passengers in future, that is up to Pan African Minerals."

Many west Africans complain that new infrastructure projects do not help people. "Transport is supposed to be about the movement of people, goods and services, and the first of those is people," said Abeiku Arthur.

"The Niger-Abidjan railway is supposed to look at transporting goods in its first phase, with a later 'enhancement' integrating people into it. Infrastructure projects are very much influenced by colonial perspectives, and [are] much more interested in concentrating on raw material for export, rather than facilitating the movement of people."

There have been plans for pan-west African railway networks since countries in the region obtained independence in the 1950s and 60s, but none have come to fruition. The Niger-Ivory Coast extension is part of renewed efforts to improve rail infrastructure. Increased foreign investment and interest in natural resources have led to growing interest in such development.

Although the Niamey-Abidjan railway would link only Francophone countries, last week transport ministers from the Economic Community of West African States backed the construction of a 732-mile single railway line to connect Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast with Anglophone Ghana.

And earlier this month, Nigeria, also English-speaking, said it planned to develop a railway from the southern port of Warri to northern Nigeria, and Niger.

"To really enhance trade and competition in west Africa, there have to be linkages between multilingual countries, otherwise they risk enhancing the barrier between Francophone and Anglophone," said Abeiku Arthur. "There has always been talk of a west Africa rail masterplan, but so far this has always been just talk. There has to be a commitment from national governments if these plans are really to move forward."

source: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/aug/19/niger-ivory-coast-rail-link

ECO SINGLE CURRENCY:"WAMA CALLS FOR FAST TRACKING OF ECOWAS SINGLE CURRENCY PROJECT''

from: http://news.ecowas.int/presseshow.php?nb=239&lang=en&annee=2013

Two technical committees of the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) have ended 

their joint meeting in Accra calling for the finalization of the report on the 

assessment of the various deadlines set for the attainment of the ECOWAS single 

currency.

The planned single regional currency to be managed by a common Central Bank for 

the 15 Member States is the primary target of the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation 

Programme (EMCP), which is monitored, coordinated and implemented by WAMA.

At their 25th joint ordinary meeting held 19-20 July 2013, the WAMA technical 

committees recommended that the ECOWAS Commission coordinate the activities of 

the working group made up of WAMA and the West African Money Institute (WAMI), 

to ensure that the assessment report is submitted to the Committee of Governors 

of ECOWAS member Central Banks at the 2013 end of year statutory meetings.

WAMA should also seek funding from the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) 

Committee of Governors to enable WAMI finalise its study on the status of 

preparedness in the WAMZ, the meeting said.

The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone constitute the six 

countries of the zone that agreed to create a second currency, Eco, within 

ECOWAS, to be used during a transition period along with the CFA franc prior to 

the creation of a single currency by 2020.

The WAMA committees also urged ECOWAS Member States to speed up reforms aimed at 

enhancing tax revenue mobilization, rationalize public expenditure especially 

the public sector payroll and strengthen the capacity of the mining sector.

They should also enhance good governance and ensure effective coordination 

between monetary and fiscal authorities. 

After deliberations on two separate reports on the harmonisation of rules 

governing current and capital account transactions and the harmonisation of 

monetary policy frameworks in ECOWAS, the meeting called on the ECOWAS 

Commission to set up the process for the adoption of an ECOWAS Liberalization 

Scheme on Services similar to the one on Trade ELTS.

The Commission should also speed up the adoption, ratification and 

implementation process of the regional code on investment.

Mr. France Kumah, Assistant Director of the Bank of Ghana, welcomed participants 

and representatives of invited institutions on behalf of the Governor of the 

Bank of Ghana, while the Director General of WAMA, Prof. Mohamed Ben Omar, 

expressed his appreciation for the quality of contributions and outcome of the 

meeting.

Institutions represented at the meeting included the ECOWAS Commission, UEMOA 

Commission, WAMI, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management 

(WAIFEM), West African Bankers Association (WABA), African Development Bank 

(Ghana), the Sierra Leone Ministry of Justice, the ECOWAS Parliament and Panel 

Kerr Forster from Sierra Leone – WAMA's External Auditors.

Checking FREE MOVEMENT problems in ECOWAS -- Who is accountable at ECOWAS?

Comrades,

There have been some unfortunate stories about immigration officials at particular borders within the sub-region levying equivalent of 50 POUNDS on citizens passing through the borders. (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=281722&comment=0#com )

This illegality must be checked! And ECOWAS Officials to be held accountable on these developments can be found below...

*Head of Division, Free Movement and Migration at the Commission's Directorate of Free Movement and Tourism, Mr. Tony Elumelu
*ECOWAS Task Force on Free Movement, Air-Vice Marshal Terry Okorodudu (rtd)
*Director of Free Movement and Tourism of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Sanoh N'faly -

These characters are virtually out of coverage area for normal citizens like us, so what I suggest we can do is simply set up GOOGLE ALERTS that can help track their speeches, and all they say.

That is in itself a good start.

Good luck!
Emmanuel

--

A Reflection on the necessity of monitoring BURKINA Faso

Thanks to linkedin.com, I was compelled to put my thinking cap on (which I often like to leave off...): a  Ghanaian "friend" asked me a dicey, juicy question about Burkina Faso politics (the President there (Compaoré) has been in power since 1987) and the possibility of the President there tweaking the constitution to remain in power. 

A simple question brought about ramifications never thought possible: here's the case that ECOWAS Commission President is from Burkina; he is eyeing the Presidency himself in 2016. 

Small problem is that incumbent will step down in 2015 (in theory!) at a time when current ECOWAS President has to show his mettle that he presided over celebrations of ECOWAS' 40 years. So what does he do: try his luck at the Presidency of Burkina Faso -- or stay at ECOWAS and make an impact? Either way, Burkina is a country to watch in the sub-region in the next couple of years!

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Q9 Brigade:Africa Unite! - Google Groups

Q9 Brigade:Africa Unite! - Google Groups Emmanuel.K. Bensah Jr. 5/28/11. COMMENT: "The Next Fifty Years - Africa", Emmanuel.K. Bensah Jr. 8/2/13. Fwd: FW: REA... View or comment on Emmanuel.K. Bensah Jr.'s post » Google+ makes sharing on the web more like sharing in real life. Learn more. Join Google+

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ECOWAS MALARIA ELIMINATION CAMPAIGN MOVES TO GHANA

from: http://news.ecowas.int/presseshow.php?nb=233&lang=en&annee=2013

       
 The regional war against malaria being waged by ECOWAS and partners through the 
biolarvicide programme moves to Ghana this week with a grand ground-breaking 
ceremony on Tuesday 6th 2013 for the construction of a factory in Accra, the 
nation’s capital for the production of the substance.

The programme, which is being held within the framework of the Campaign for the 
Elimination of Malaria in West Africa by 2015, will bring together health 
experts from within and outside the ECOWAS region.  The President of Republic 
of Ghana, the country’s Health Minister as well as the President of the ECOWAS 
Commission and the Vice-President are among important dignitaries expected to 
grace the event.

The Accra factory is one of the three being constructed in the region under a 
tripartite agreement involving ECOWAS, Cuba and Venezuela. Similar ground 
breaking ceremonies for the other two have been held in Cote d’Ivoire and Port 
Harcourt, Nigeria.  The regional campaign seeks to free the region from the 
malaria scourge that kills thousands of people in Africa a year and costs the 
continent more than US$12 billion annually.

Under the regional campaign focused on the strengthening of the vector control 
component, recognized internationally as the only intervention that can reduce 
malaria transmission from high level to zero, Cuba and Venezuela are providing 
the financial support, technical know-how and technology transfer to make 
readily available in the region, biolarvicide, the substance that destroys 
mosquitoes, the malaria vectors in their larvae stage of development.

This is with the purpose of bolstering the elimination campaign through massive 
larviciding/spraining across the region. Similar campaigns have yielded 
resounding successes in Latin America and other parts of the world.

The Accra ground breaking event will be preceded by a tripartite experts 
working group meeting by ECOWAS, Cuba and Venezuela on Monday, also in the 
Ghanaian capital.

Participants will discuss among others, the feasibility study, cost build up 
and investment architecture of the project as well as the forthcoming 4th High-
Level partners meeting in Venezuela.

Malaria is not only a major public health problem in Africa, with West Africa 
bearing the heaviest burden; it also stunts the economic development of the 
region and the continent as a whole.

my interventions as an AU/ECOWAS Integration...

my interventions as an AU/ECOWAS Integration Analyst on Ghana Television; Metro TV(Ghana); and Citi fm (private radio, Ghana) in May and June 2013 1-ekb-AU@50-audio2013 Google logo Drive · Sign in. 1-ekb-AU@50-audio2013. 3 items. TITLE. LAST MODIFIED. 001_A_019_ekbensah_2013_05_28-2.mp... View or comment on Emmanuel.K. Bensah Jr.'s post » Google+ makes sharing on the web more like sharing in real life. Learn more. Join Google+

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AFISMA: ECOWAS to Reimburse Nigeria, Others

from: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/afisma-ecowas-to-reimburse-nigeria-others/155199/

AFISMA: ECOWAS to Reimburse Nigeria, Others

02 Aug 2013

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Ambassador Kadre Desire Ouédraogo

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja


Nigeria, alongside Ghana, Benin Republic, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Togo and Chad are to receive refund on expenses incurred in the deployment of troops and other spending in the first 90 days of their stay in Mali.

The plans to make the refund was unfolded on thursday by the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),  Ambassador Kadre Desire Ouédraogo, at a ceremony for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Troop and Police Contributing Countries to the African–led International Support in Mali (AFISMA) in Abuja.
The MoU is to facilitate repayment to the contributing countries who took responsibility for the initial expenses on their troops.
He did not disclose how much would be refunded to each country, but Nigeria spent over $45 million in its bid to assist the restoration of peace, stability and democracy in Mali.

"The intervention in Mali was a success and since United Nations has taken charge of the troops, it is better for the commission to refund our members that sponsored their troops personally without delay," Ouédraogo said.
He also lauded the efforts of France, the European Union, and Chad Republic for their sacrifices and contributing to the Mali peacekeeping mission, adding that the commission did not receive any complaint on human rights violations while the military expedition lasted.
On the recent elections in Mali, Ouédraogo said 250 ECOWAS observers were deployed and they adjudged the elections to be free and fair.
He expressed optimism that the new government would be able to build on the peace efforts of the troops.

Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada, reiterated the commitment of Nigeria to peace and stability in the sub region and around the world.

--

from: http://businessdayonline.com/?p=540

NAICOM tasks West African insurers on cross-border integration

August 1, 2013 | Filed under: Insurance | Posted by: Chiedu Moks

Insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has tasked the insurance industry in the West African Sub-region to step up efforts on cross-border integration that would enable exchange of information and data necessary to deepen market penetration.

This development, the Commission stated would ensure that insurance firms engender trust and acceptance in the sub-region through enforcement of rules and regulations.

Fola Daniel, commissioner for Insurance made the disclosure at the Inaugural Meeting for the Integration of the Insurance Sector in the West African Insurance Companies Association Member States(WAICA) and Guinea going on at the ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja

Daniel who was concerned that banking and capital market sectors had successfully established their integration Councils with the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), noted that the insurance sector must step up its efforts as the industry regulators were poised to achieve this as quickly as possible.

"The insurance sector has remained a 3rd-level player in the financial services sector of West African States. While the other components of the financial services sector in the sub-region have all moved on and firmed up processes for their integration, it is regrettable that same cannot be said about the insurance sector.

By: Modestus Anaesoronye

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EXPERTS REVIEW ROADMAP FOR ECOWAS SINGLE CURRENCY

from:http://news.ecowas.int/presseshow.php?nb=229&lang=en&annee=2013

Regional experts have ended a two-day meeting in Accra for the review of the 
revised roadmap for the ECOWAS single currency, which involves the creation of a 
second currency by six Member States of the second monetary zone by 2015.

The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone constitute the six 
countries of the zone that agreed to create a second currency, Eco, to be used 
during a transition period along with the CFA franc prior to the creation of a 
single currency by 
2020.

The meeting of the inter-institutional technical sub-committee on the roadmap 
for the ECOWAS single currency programme is intended to review the 34 activities 
included in the programme for the single currency.

"The meeting is to review the roadmap and examine the status of implementation 
of these activities vis-à-vis the timelines indicated for their implementation," 
the Acting Director, ECOWAS Multilateral Surveillance Directorate, Dr. Nelson 
Magbagbeola said at the opening of the meeting on Monday, 29th July 2013.

The experts, drawn mostly from the ECOWAS Commission, Central Banks of West 
African States, BCEAO, West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), West African 
Monetary Institute (WAMI), West African Bankers Association (WABA), the ECOWAS 
Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the West African Economic and 
Monetary Union, UEMOA Commission, also revisited the reporting procedure of the 
roadmap, the frequency of their meetings and the financing of the various 
activities.

There were presentations by the ECOWAS Commission, WAMA, WAMI and WABA on the 
status of implementation of the various activities assigned to them under the 
road map
.
The activities are listed under 16 broad rubrics and include issues such as 
harmonization of policies in domestic taxes and the provision of regulatory 
framework in various areas, multilateral surveillance, the completion of the 
payment system infrastructure, removal of non-tariff barriers, stabilization of 
exchange rates, liberalization of capital accounts and the integration of 
financial markets.

It is expected that the proposed timelines on some of the activities will be 
presented to the next meeting of the ECOWAS Convergence Council through the 
Macroeconomic Policy Technical Committee for consideration and adoption.