Success in Regional Integration, Despite Emerging Challenges – Global Issues
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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established in 1975 to promote economic integration in the region. Forty-nine years later, the regional bloc boasts great success in integration, peace and security and good governance, but it also faces some challenges.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, participated in a high-level event at the UN headquarters in New York in June 2024, which focused on regional cohesion, peace and security in West Africa.
In an interview with Kingsley Ighobor after the event, Ambassador Musah, speaking on behalf of ECOWAS, highlighted the success and challenges of this organization, as well as ongoing efforts to strengthen coordination. These are excerpts from the interview.
The achievements of ECOWAS over the past 49 years can be summed up in one key area: we have changed from creating an organization to building a community.
ECOWAS was created during the Cold War. The only place where people could come together to find consensus was economic integration, not politics or ideology.
The Law on the Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services (1976) allows citizens the right to reside in any member state and has been the calling card of ECOWAS over the years. It is a great achievement that West Africans do not have to think about a visa when crossing borders within the region.
There was a lot of turmoil in Africa after the Cold War; without ECOWAS the entire region would have been engulfed in violent wars. If you remember, the war started in Liberia in late 1989 and continued into the mid-1990s, spreading to Sierra Leone and affecting Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.
The region has much to be proud of—the fact that ECOWAS is now a symbol, a pioneer in regional integration on the continent.
ANSWER: ECOWAS intervened through its multinational armed forces, the Economic Community of West African States Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which stabilized the situation and eventually provided the United Nations peacekeepers who arrived afterwards.
About economic integration?
In economic integration, we can talk about many achievements. It is not just the free movement of people; and it is about creating a common regional market. It’s about helping countries develop infrastructure—power, internet connectivity, and building road networks across the region.
This is ongoing. However, learning from the tragic events of the 1990s characterized by civil wars and bankruptcies, ECOWAS had no choice but to focus on issues of security and good governance.
Today, the values of democracy and human rights are deeply rooted in West African culture, and ECOWAS is part and parcel of that process. West Africa is the only region in Africa that does not have an open, highly violent conflict, except for the activities of Violent Opposition Groups.
The region has much to be proud of—the fact that ECOWAS is now a symbol, a pioneer in regional integration on the continent. It provided the basis for many of the structures of the African Union.
ECOWAS went from an economic organization to an economic and political union. Is this correct?
Yes, of course.
Some members of ECOWAS have expressed their intention to leave the group. Are there efforts to ensure that they stay?
ECOWAS is a community. We have unity. We may have challenges or disagreements, but walking out is not a solution. Countries tend to refrain from talking about their Pan-African aspirations and other things, but the foundation of Pan-Africanism is integration. Given that dispersal will not promote Pan-Africanism, we are doing everything we can to keep them in the herd.
However, it is important to note that a country cannot just decide one day to withdraw from ECOWAS. There are procedures to be followed, in accordance with Article 91 of the ECOWAS Convention.
Several diplomatic negotiations are going on behind the scenes to reunite the ECOWAS bloc.
What makes you hopeful that these efforts will be successful?
What gives us hope is that ECOWAS held its extraordinary summit in February 2024 and lifted the severe sanctions against Niger, and encouraged them to return to the Community. We hope they understand that the advantages of being together outweigh the disadvantages.
Speaking of benefits, what other incentives do you offer these countries to encourage them to maintain their membership?
I have spoken before about ECOWAS free movement of people, goods and services. About 10 million citizens of these countries are spread throughout the region. As we speak, 4.5 million Burkinabe citizens live in Côte d’Ivoire alone. If they withdraw from ECOWAS, the situation of their citizens will change drastically. They will have to organize their stay regularly, and those who cannot do so will have to return to their countries.
We are talking about free trade. The trade of African countries is about 15 percent. Within the ECOWAS region, exports from these three countries to other parts of West Africa do not exceed 17 percent. What ECOWAS receives from them are meat products, vegetables and others. Although they receive energy and many goods produced in other countries without input costs.
The values of democracy and human rights are deeply rooted in West African culture, and ECOWAS is part and parcel of that process.
Don’t forget that three countries are closed. They will need access to the sea, which is provided today under favorable conditions within the framework of regional integration. If they exit, they will have to find other outlets or pay higher prices and freight charges. It will take a lot of time and resources to do that.
We also talk about social cohesion, which people take for granted. In fact, these three countries together use more than 52 percent of the ECOWAS strategic food reserves, which is about 15,000 tons of food. Landlocked countries or those ravaged by cyclical droughts need that support.
Finally, the most effective way to combat violent extremism is intelligence sharing and military cooperation at the border. If they separate from us, how can they effectively fight violent extremists? We need them to return to the family and I hope they will reverse their decision.
Will their withdrawal have a ripple effect on ECOWAS?
Withdrawal will not be good for them and ECOWAS because in international negotiations today, strength is in numbers. If we remain members of 15 nations, our influence in international communication is great. If they leave, ECOWAS will be weakened. This is something we should consider.
Remember that ECOWAS is a federal organization. If you want positions in international organizations like the UN and others, ECOWAS meets and supports the candidate. For the sake of unity, we will support those within the community.
So in terms of communications, in terms of security, in terms of politics, it’s bad for both sides. But in moderation, it is not very favorable for them.
Source: Africa Renewal, the digital magazine of the United Nations that talks about economic, social and political development in Africa—as well as the challenges facing the continent and the solutions to them by Africans themselves, including the support of the United Nations and the international community.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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