COMMENT:"...there is Hope of Africa’s Agricultural Integration! (2)"

From the Continental to the Regional, there is Hope of Africa's Agricultural Integration! (2)

'The Accidental Ecowas & AU Citizen':
By E.K.Bensah Jr

In the early part of the naughties, I was working for a development NGO in Brussels. Many of my days were spent data-mining all things development-oriented, and producing a newsletter everyday with colleagues. Even before I had the opportunity of becoming an NGO delegate at the NGO caucus of the UN Conference on Least Development Countries (LDCs), which was held in May 2001, I had been reading tomes of information about the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. The more I read, the more confused I becameexcept on one thing: the EU was spending a gargantuan amount of money subsidizing its farmers; the Americans were doing same. Conversely, in Africa, there did not seem to be any hope in sight that Africa had a plan around food security.

Of course, history has a different tale to tell us: we now know that in 2003, the Maputo Declaration was formulated and that the African Union (even at its infancy of having transmogrified from an OAU to an AU in 2002) was considering having a continental programme to address food on the continent.

Back in 2001, I spent every Thursday at work putting up a newsletter on regional dynamics, regional trade to our over 500-subscribers. That was a day I looked forward to: presenting to readers who had no idea about our regional economic communities that there was a group like ECOWAS with 15 member countries, and groupings like SADC with 14, etc, that were trying to formulate their own policy plans for a more self-sufficient Africa.

So it was great and insightful reading then that no less than the-then Executive Secretary of ECOWAS Lansuna Kouyate had emphasized that agriculture is paramount for West Africa's development 'as 70% of the sub-region's population resides in the agricultural sector.' I would also read that no less than the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had had two other meetings, and had even had a third meeting with ECOWAS that would 'work towards harmonizing legislation and regulations, co-ordinate and integrate institutions dealing with agricultural matters.' One of the major outcomes of this FAO-ECOWAS confab/bilateral would be a meeting that would put on the table a concrete proposal for West Africa to have a Common Agricultural Policy for itself.

Ten years after Maputo, this makes sense, and I hope that come 2015 when ECOWAS celebrates 40 years of its existence, it will make important and significant space to commemorate 10 years of the passing of the policy by the Authority of the Heads of State of ECOWAS of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy known as ECOWAP.

Understanding ECOWAP
When the Heads of State adopted the ECOWAP back in 2005, the idea was for it to be an instrument for the coordination of the CAADP (referred to in last week's article), which doubles as the agricultural component of the New partnership for Africa's Development(NEPAD) within West Africa. According to ECOWAS, this policy is supposed to have a 'modern and sustainable agriculture, based on the effectiveness and efficiency of family farms and the promotion of agricultural enterprises through the involvement of the private sector.' It continues that 'productive and competitive in the intra-Community and international markets, it must ensure food security and remunerative incomes to its workers'

The implementation of ECOWAS/CAADP is predicated on implementation of investment programs at the national level (NIP), as well as the sub-regional. The Regional Agricultural Investment Programme (RAIP) comprises six components, which include:

*Improvement of water management
*Improved management of others hared natural resources

*The sustainable development of farms
*Development of agricultural value chains and the promotion of the markets

*Prevention and management of food crises and other natural catastrophes

*Institutional strengthening, including support for the improvement of agricultural and rural policy and strategy formulation capacities; as well as communication

If one considers the fact that food and agriculture is a sector critical for intervention in West Africa, and identified by the Treaty establishing the creation of ECOWAS; as well as the fact that the revised treaty (1993) enjoins member states to cooperatein order to ensure food security; increased production and productivity; protection of prices of export commodities on the international market, one can begin to already see the significance of agriculture to the sub-region.

As I intoned last week, this is perhaps an example of a continental programme devolving to the regional and the national almost-simultaneously. We must begin, therefore, to also encourage our communicators and media-men to take interest in these processes.

Way forward on agriculture in Ghana, and Africa

A lot of the time, we complain that ECOWAS and the AU, and such-like institutions are not working. True, much of the time, they do not work because implementation of proposed strategies takes a scandalously-long time to translate into results that can be seen. We may not have seen how over a decade so much has happened around Africa's agriculture, but the narrative is there for all to follow and read. September 2013 will go down the annals of agricultural history in West Africa as significant for the manner in which plans were followed almost to the letter.

The opaqueness around the recruitment of those who will man and head the ECOWAS Food and Agricultural Agency notwithstanding, I believe ECOWAS Community citizens can pat themselves on the back for a job well-done by Africa's policy-makers. Let us break the myth of when we want to hide something from the Black Man, we put it in a book, and get to reading, discussing, and understanding the narrative of Africa's agricultural integration. CAADP is not going to go away until all 54 countries have signed onto it. So far, 30 countries have done so. There are plans for each of the seven other regional economic communities (RECS) establishing food and agricultural agencies for their respective regions. ECOWAS has led the way, but it must also lead the way in ensuring effective policy-implementation.

In the meantime, I hope as World Food Day approaches with increasing celerity on October 16, a conversation will be had in the media on Ghana's food security. The upcoming FAGRA might be an opportunity to broach the topic of CAADP/ECOWAS RFAA, and, finally, Farmer's Day should be used to re-visit the debates of Africa's food security.

Let's keep the agricultural integration narrative from the continental to the regional alive!

www.ekbensahdotnet.org
In 2009, in his capacity as a 'Do More Talk Less Ambassador' of the 42nd Generationan NGO that promotes and discusses Pan-Africanism--Emmanuel gave a series of lectures on the role of ECOWAS and the AU in facilitating a Pan-African identity. Emmanuel owns "Critiquing Regionalism" (http://critiquing-regionalism.org). Established in 2004 as an initiative to respond to the dearth of knowledge on global regional integration initiatives worldwide, this non-profit blog features regional integration initiatives on MERCOSUR/EU/Africa/Asia and many others. You can reach him on ekbensah@ekbensah.net / Mobile: +233-268.687.653.




Source: Emmanuel K. Bensah Jr.

Story from Modern Ghana News:
http://www.modernghana.com/news/495516/1/from-the-continental-to-the-regional-there-is-hope.html

Published: Wednesday, October 09, 2013


All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners.

--

COMMENT:"ALL HAIL ECOWAS NEW FOOD & AGRICULTURAL AGENCY!"

from: http://ekbensahdotnet.org/wp/?p=186

#BLOG:"FROM THE CONTINENTAL TO THE REGIONAL, THERE IS HOPE OF AFRICA'S AGRICULTURAL INTEGRATION! (ALL HAIL ECOWAS NEW FOOD & AGRICULTURAL AGENCY!)(1)"

From the Continental to the Regional, there is Hope of Africa's Agricultural Integration!

'The Accidental Ecowas & AU Citizen': From the Continental to the Regional, there is Hope of Africa's Agricultural Integration! (All Hail ECOWAS new Food & Agricultural Agency!)(1)

By E.K.Bensah Jr
Back in 2012, I wrote a iece entitled 'The AU as a Project in 'Human Endeavour and Continental Cooperation'. The major objective of the piece was to communicate to the wider public the importance of the AU and its CAADP programme.

Another year has passed, and so much has happened. Suffice-to-say, it is important to add that the piece was written in October 2012–the very month that Ghana adhered to a continental compact on agriculture back in October 2009. This is what I wrote: 'It will be three years this October since Ghana joined the AU/NEPAD-sponsored Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), and 2013 will be exactly a decade since CAADP – but one probably would not know it.' I bemoaned the fact that in the run-up towards Farmer's Day in 2012, Ghana should have seized the opportunity to raise the issue of how far the country had gone in delivering on the CAADP, and even use Farmer's Day as an opportunity to explain to the wider public the necessity of Ghana continuing to invest 10% of its budget in agriculture towards the realization of the CAADP programme.

An explanation of the Pan-African/continental compact included the fact that CAADP was endorsed in Maputo in 2003. According to CAADP's website, CAADP's overall-goal is to 'eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture'. To achieve this, African governments have agreed to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10 per cent of their national budgets and 'to raise agricultural productivity by at least 6 per cent.' This is to be done through CAADP's strategic functions, regional and economic communities, national roundtables and four key Pillars.

According to the AU's Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the AU Commission Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, interviewed in the August/September 2013 edition of 'African Business', so far no less than 30 African countries have signed the CAADP compacts, and '27 of these have strong and credible investment plans that are being used for public and private sector financing.' The Commissioner goes on to explain that countries like Rwanda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone have all managed to allocate additional finance to targeted programmes 'that have the highest potential to generate return on these investments.' This is important as CAADP is also about agricultural productivity in a way that feeds into a development-oriented policy that will facilitate more food-secure African countries.

Questioned by the magazine on assurances that she, as the highest policy official, can give on CAADP changing the state of agriculture in Africa, she responds 'it is important to- note how unique the CAADP is as an instrument to guide the continent's efforts on agricultural development. Many people do not appreciate how important it is to have a functional and successful agricultural system in Africa.' She continues that 'the value of CAADP is defined by challenges facing Africa's agriculture. It has made efforts to translate the commitments made by heads of state in 2003 into what will actually help countries to strengthen their systems.'

Some of us would like to speculate that CAADP is a positive and concrete example of a Pan-African idea devolving to the national. That no less than 30 countries have already signed up is encouraging as it signals the importance that African policymakers clearly seem to have about agriculture. But there is a new development in this whole discourse, and it is about how a Pan-African idea/programme has devolved also to the regional.

Enter ECOWAS Food and Agricultural Agencylaunched in September 2013

Even before I had read online that the ECOWAS Commission was planning on establishing a food and agricultural agency, I had read in the Follow-up recommendations from the Fourth Conference of African Ministers on Integration (COMAI) that ECOWAS was the regional economic community that had made considerable headway on its agricultural policy, and that in ECOWAS' communication to the framers of the COMAI report, ECOWAS was going to establish the agency with immediate effect.

This is consistent with what the Netherlands-based think-tank ECDPM wrote in one of the articles about ECOWAS and agriculture. They maintain 'ECOWAS is seen as a region that had made considerable progress in articulating a regional approach for agriculture within the CAADP framework' They continue that 'As far back as 2001, ECOWAS initiated and adopted a framework of guidelines for the creation of a common regional agricultural policy for West Africa (ECOWAP). This conveniently coincided with the period when CAADP gained momentum and global interest.'

By 2005 the ECOWAP was adopted as the reference framework for CAADP implementation at the regional level in West Africa. The ECOWAS CAADP regional compact was launched in 2009, followed by the Regional Investment Plan (RAIP) in 2010. A Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), Regional Fund for Agriculture and Food (ECOWADF) and a Strategic and Operational Plan is currently being set up to implement the ECOWAP and its RAIP.

According to ECDPM, 'The ECOWAS Commission was also quite proactive in supporting its member states along the CAADP process at the national level: it provided technical support and financial assistance of over USD 0.4mn to each member state to organize the national CAADP compact and investment plan formulation process'

We now know that only last week, ECOWAS launched its Food and Agricultural Agency (ARAA) in Lome, Togo, where it will be based. A search online for its French counterpart name of ARAA (Agence Regionale pour l'Agriculture et Alimentation) has, interestingly, yielded more search results than the Anglophone name. Even documents on the operationalisation of the agency and its composition are all still in French. For a flagship organisation whose translators are over-worked, it beggars belief that documents for the launch of a flagship agency like this can only be found in one language.

Why Togo was chosen to host FAA/ARAA
Notwithstanding any clear communication by ECOWAS on why Togo was chosen to host the regional food agency, I can only speculate that given the fact that Togo already hosts the ECOWAS Project Preparation and Development Unittouted by ECOWAS as 'an agency of the organization with the mandate to prepare bankable infrastructure projects to facilitate private and public sector investments', as well as an agency [established in 2005] to identify 'bottlenecks in the implementation of the NEPAD Short Term Action Plan adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union in June 2002' – it made sense that it would be optimal to have an agency that is seeking to implement the continental CAADP at the regional level (through ECOWAS's Common agricultural policy (ECOWAP) ) to be located very closely to the ECOWAS PPDU

Over the next couple of weeks and months, this column will touch more closely on the progress of CAADP (which 10 years of existence will be celebrated in 2014), and an exploration of what the new Food and Agricultural Agency will seek to do for the sub-region.

I personally hope that we can also begin to have a conversation in development circles in this country about why we should use Farmers' Day in Ghana to begin to communicate the importance of agriculture and food security within the specific context of our development plans.

It is all-too-tempting to add that, veritably, from the continental to the regional, there truly might be hope for Africa's agricultural integration!

In 2009, in his capacity as a 'Do More Talk Less Ambassador' of the 42nd Generationan NGO that promotes and discusses Pan-Africanism–Emmanuel gave a series of lectures on the role of ECOWAS and the AU in facilitating a Pan-African identity. Emmanuel owns "Critiquing Regionalism" (http://critiquing-regionalism.org). Established in 2004 as an initiative to respond to the dearth of knowledge on global regional integration initiatives worldwide, this non-profit blog features regional integration initiatives on MERCOSUR/EU/Africa/Asia and many others. You can reach him on ekbensah@ekbensah.net / Mobile:   +233-268.687.653.

Source: Emmanuel K. Bensah Jr.

Story from Modern Ghana News:

ARTICLE...Of resource-management, and taxes for economic development in West Africa

from: http://ngrguardiannews.com/business-news/131616-effective-resource-management-ease-of-doing-business-imperative-for-tax-development-says-afflu

Effective resource management, ease of doing business imperative for tax development, says Afflu

MONDAY, 02 SEPTEMBER 2013 00:00 BUKKY OLAJIDE BUSINESS SERVICES - BUSINESS NEWS

User Rating: / 0 
PoorBest 

The West African Union of Tax Institutes (WAUTI) is an association formed by the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Ghana (CITG) with the objective of developing and promoting the taxation profession in West Africa. Mike Kofi Afflu is the current president of the association. In this interview with BUKKY OLAJIDE, Afflu spoke on the current issues in the tax industry and other related matters.

HOW far has WAUTI gone in developing and promoting taxation as the pivot for economic development as in other developed regions?

The task of promoting taxation in the region is a herculean one. Given the peculiar cycle of poor governance prevalent within the region, citizens have had to grapple with lack of basic infrastructure, unemployment, limited access to quality and affordable health care, and low purchasing power. In fact, most citizens live on less than $1 per day. It becomes difficult in the circumstance to convince the people to pay taxes to the government purse with myriad of unmet expectations. This notwithstanding, we have at every opportunity emphasized the need to accord taxation a prime place in governments' economic policies. 

  Within the short period of our organisation's existence, we have been privileged to embark on visits to some countries within the West African region including; Senegal, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote d' Ivoire and Nigeria. In the course of these visits, important stakeholders including government officials welcomed our delegation warmly and supported our message. Our constant admonition has been on the place of taxation in sustainable political and economic development. Another angle, of course, is the important role of taxation bodies in these countries.       Furthermore, since WAUTI's establishment in 2011, two international Annual Tax Conferences have been organised in 2012 & 2013 on the themes "Taxation: Tool for Regional Development and Sustainability" and "The Role of Taxation in Good Governance" respectively. 

  The level of participation and knowledge sharing deepened the capacity of the participants.  Communiqués were also issued at the end of the conference and disseminated to all key stakeholders in the sub-region.  The Communiqués and paper presentations are also available at the Unions website www.wauti.org. Funding has remained our major challenge in reaching out to all stakeholders as we would have wanted to.

What efforts are you making to make WAUTI a platform for developing and harmonizing tax policies in West Africa? 

There is an adage that "A Journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."  To this end, two of the presentations at our Annual Tax Conferences were hinged on this subject of harmonisation of tax policies, notably "The Role of Taxation in Good Governance Towards Uniformity of Taxation within the ECOWAS Region" presented by Mr. Jiri Nekovar, President, Confederation Fiscale Europeenee and "Harmonization of Regional Tax System: Challenges & Prospects" presented by Mr, Salifou Tiemtore, Director of Customs, ECOWAS Commission.  We have also commenced the process by encouraging tax professionals of each country to form tax professional bodies. 

  This is being vigorously pursued by the organisation. When we achieve a substantial measure of success, we can then under the auspices of the organisation take a look at the tax systems in the respective countries, identify areas of similarities, areas of conflict, make informed comments and suggestions which can be adopted by member-bodies. The result of our collective action can be presented in a holistic manner to the individual countries and the regional group, ECOWAS, for adoption and implementation. Ultimately, this will take years to accomplish. But as the saying goes, it is better to be late than never.

 Do you think West African countries' tax laws are being operated in line with global best practices?

Yes they are. As is evident the current international best practice in taxation includes transparency and accountability. In this vein most West African countries have passed Transfer Pricing laws and regulations to deal with transactions that lack tax transparency. Again most West African countries have Double Taxation Agreements as well as Tax Exchange Information Agreements with other countries to facilitate exchange of tax information to aid transparency as well as assist our governments mobilize the needed domestic resource for the development of the sub-region by preventing abuse of our tax systems.

The lacuna in global best practices, which our organisation intends to abridge, is the near-absence of inter-State collaboration in terms of exchange of information and bilateral or multilateral taxation agreements among West African countries. In other words, West African countries find it more convenient to relate with countries from other regions in the areas of Double Taxation Agreements and Exchange of Information than among themselves. This is something our organisation is already studying with a view to taking remedial measures.

How can West African countries key-in to the new global tax order? 

 The new global order is challenged by lack of resources for developing countries owing to such backlash as the credit crunch, natural disasters in donor countries. West African countries thus have to enhance and improve domestic resource mobilization for their development, more so when some of them have attained middle income status and have to be weaned off donor support.

  West African countries can also key in on their strengths of managing their revenue inflows from their vast natural resources so as to leverage on the reduction in donor support. The cost of doing business is West Africa should also be reduced to attract more foreign direct investment while sustaining the needed peace and stability in the sub-region to give investors the level of confidence and assurance they require to invest in our countries to assist in the growth of our economies.

  These recommended measures will, in fact, not be possible unless there is sustained democracy and good governance, which entails waging war against corruption of the elite, a factor that has rendered many economies in the sub-region comatose.

What steps are you taking to network with global tax institutes?

One of the cardinal objectives of the Union is to collaborate with other bodies with a view to leveraging on their reach towards information sharing and collaboration for our collective benefit. In this regard, we have reached out to key international organisations devoted to the enhancement of the taxation profession. In April 2012, we attended the Spring Conference/Meetings of the Confederation Fiscale Europeenne, the umbrella body of tax advisers in Europe. The platform provided an opportunity for us to network and share experiences on a wide range of issues including the challenges encountered by our body in its formative years. We also seized the opportunity to push for the resuscitation of the moribund World Tax Conference. Only recently, the President of the CFE, Mr. Jiri Nekovar was in Lagos as the Lead Speaker at our second International Tax Conference. 

  It is expected that this relationship will be sustained and a working relationship established for the benefit of both bodies. We are also in close contact with the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) based in Dakar, Senegal. Discussions have been initiated with the body on the possibility of training of officers of the body.  Invitation by SAIT to participate in the Transfer Pricing Summit in South Africa is also an opportunity to network with other countries and institutions. We hope to explore other areas of cooperation in the near future.

In September 2013, our representatives shall be attending the CFE International Assembly of Tax Advisers Conference in Russia, which is another opportunity to interact with tax institutes from all regions of the world. 

How do you intend to address the phenomenally low tax awareness in West Africa?

This question has always come to the fore since the establishment of the organisation. We have come to realise that this responsibility lies not just with the organisation, but also with all stakeholders including the citizens themselves, government, professional groups, traditional institutions and educational bodies. Having said so, we will also continue to lend our voice (through advocacy, Annual Tax Conference, presentations) to that of other like-minded bodies on the need for the citizens to be aware of their responsibility to pay taxes as part of their social contract with the government. 

  As time goes on, we will be embarking on enlightenment programmes in conjunction with member-bodies towards enlightenment of the citizens on this subject. Also of concern is that governments should think outside the box to break the mono-product economy in most West African countries. In this regard, taxation is the tool for optimum economic planning globally.

 Some West African countries are yet to have tax institutes. What is WAUTI doing about this?

This has been a top-most priority of the organisation from commencement of its activities. We have made modest gains in this respect. This is without saying that a whole lot is yet to be achieved. What we find in most countries in the region is that accountancy and taxation are subsumed under a single body as the case was in Nigeria and Ghana some years ago. With renewed consciousness and the need for specialisation, the status quo is changing. We have had meetings with some professionals in West African countries without taxation institutes, and we are happy to note their enthusiasm and drive in this direction. Presently, we have associations of tax professionals in Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Liberia and Niger. Others such as Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and Benin are in the process of having their own associations. Most importantly, we want them to be legally recognised and chartered by their governments to enable them to be empowered to regulate the taxation profession in their respective countries. All these are as a result of the modest efforts being made by the organisation in close association with individuals in the countries concerned.

For ECOWAS to establish a monetary union, its members need to agree on a minimum 20 percent ratio of revenue to GDP, yet only Cape Verde and Ghana had met the criteria, other 13 countries fell below 20 per cent. What's your position on this?

 This is one of the areas where the organisation is of importance since experiences can be shared and research conducted into how the two countries succeeded in attaining the targets so others can emulate. The various tax institutes in West African countries share ideas and research data and information through workshops and seminars through which they can advice in their home countries on the way forward. They assist the revenue institutions in their countries as well as work along with them to improve tax revenue collection so the revenue to GDP ratios can improve.

Most economies under the West African Monetary Zone have less productive force and are generally weak. Don't you think this could pose a challenge to the establishment of the sub-regional currency?

Everything is possible once there is the will and zeal to put our acts together to achieve the set goal. Once the issues militating against the successful launch of the Eco have been identified we need to get West African states to embark on a capacity building drive so we can get the productive and strong force we desire for success. In a pragmatic sense, however, the Eco, in the short run, will encounter many challenges in its implementation if the European Union "Euro" experience, and the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol implementation are lessons to learn.

What is your opinion about the second Eurobond that Ghana just floated?

It is a welcome relief as most ongoing infrastructural developments in Ghana are the target for the application of the funds. In this way the economy is boosted to grow and be able to raise enough revenue to pay back the interest as well as the amount raised in the foreseeable future.

Can Ghana's discovery of oil turn out to be a challenge to its growth plan as being projected by some analysts?

The key to a resource rich country being curse free hinges on transparency and accountability, not only in the negotiations and signing of agreements between contractors and the government, but also transparency and accountability in the management and use of the revenues emanating there from. Ghana has a lot to learn from both successful countries as well as countries that have failed in attaining the above, hence has in place the requisite laws and institutions to ensure transparency and accountability. The laws governing the sector are being reviewed to achieve these hallmarks and the requisite institutions have also been established, that is, the Petroleum Commission and the Public Interest Accountability Committee. I thus, have no doubts in my mind that Ghana will succeed in this regard, that is, to be rich and curse free.

  The current drive by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to bring awareness of tax obligations to specific groups of tax payers and other measures put in place to strengthen the existing tax offices is a clear indication that government still realizes the importance of domestic tax revenue.

< Prev		Next >

Author of this article: BUKKY OLAJIDE

Show Other Articles Of This Author

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

--

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