The Chair of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Liberia’s Foreign Minister is urging her colleagues to be thorough and focused as they discuss the agenda of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, so that together they succeed in taking decisions and framing forward-looking recommendations that will benefit the Community.

“We must aim to reach decisions as consensually as possible taking into consideration the interest of our Community,” she emphasized; noting that there is much work to be done in a short span of time and efficient time management is critical if they intend to complete the agenda on time.

According to a dispatch from Abuja, Nigeria, Foreign Minister Marjon V. Kamara made the appeal when she, as Chair of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, addressed the opening of the 77^th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Commission currently taking place at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, Nigeria.

Madam Kamara said the meeting of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers comes at a time of great hope but also high anxiety. She noted that sub-regional Member States are making great strides politically and in their socio-economic development; while others are moving slowly along the route to recovery from the negative impact of the global financial crisis marked by major reduction in the prices of their major export commodities.

However, she indicated that there are anxieties driven by actions taken within the Community which disregard the principles of the ECOWAS Protocols on democracy and good governance, highlighting, also, the precarious security situation especially terrorist attacks that have become prevalent in the sub-region.

As such, December 14, the Council of Ministers dedicated a full day’s work to the consideration of security matters, conflict prevention and mediation.

There are 17 items on the agenda for decisions ranging from the presentation and consideration of the 2016 Annual Report of the President of the Commission, the consideration of the report, including recommendations of the just ended 20^th meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee to the consideration of the draft agenda of the 50^th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

There are also four items for the Council of Ministers endorsement, including the Information note on ONE HEALTH, the operationalization of the Regional Center for Disease Control (ECOWAS/CDC), amongst others, and eight items for information.

Foreign Minister Kamara provided updates on some of her engagements since she assumed the Chair of the Council in June 2016. Among them, she highlighted the meetings held in various locations, working in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission, and succeeded in identifying regional candidates for vacancies at the Africa Union where elections will be held in January 2017.

She also touched on the ECOWAS initiative to resolve the political stalemate in Guinea Bissau, as well as participating in meetings in Niger on the margins of the TICAD Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya to agree on candidates from the sub- region for positions in the African Union.

Speaking earlier, the ECOWAS President, Mr. Marcel A. de Souza, providing an update on activities of the sub-regional organization, said in the area of peace and security, efforts have enabled the region to make significant advances in the consolidation of peace, democracy, the rule of law and respect of human rights.

He noted that in the field of democracy, it is clear from the balance sheet of this year that the five (5) presidential elections scheduled were held in an atmosphere of peace and quiet. “This favorable evolution for the consolidation of democracy has been noted as well in Benin, Niger, Cape Verde, Gambia and Ghana,” he indicated but noted that with regard to the Gambia, there is uncertainty considering the statements made by the outgoing President.

The ECOWAS Commission Chairman stressed the many security challenges that remain in the region especially the indiscriminate terrorist attacks that continue to plague the populations in particular in Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Nigeria.

He noted that the resources that these countries undertake to deal with the security situation distract a large part of their budget which should rather be devoted to their economic and social development and to the alleviation of poverty. In this regard, he reaffirmed the ongoing commitment of ECOWAS to support and sustain the governments and the peoples of the region for the purposes of finding the appropriate solutions.

On the economic front, Mr. de Souza announced that in 2016, the sub-region has been marked by the negative impact of the international economic situation. “In effect, it should be recalled that, if growth is significant in some Member States such as the Ivory Coast (9.8%) and Senegal (6.6%), it has been very low or even negative in other countries of the Community,” he said, noting that  Nigeria, first economy of the region, has experienced negative growth rates under the combined effect of the decline in prices of raw materials, particularly oil, the fight against the terrorist attacks of Boko Haram, the fall of the Naira and the effects of climate change.

He noted that Nigeria’s growth was 6.3 percent in 2014, while its 2.7 percent in 2015 and the projections of the IMF to October 2016 indicate a growth rate of -1.7% in 2016. “The recession of the Nigerian economy affects, no doubt, other economies of the region including those of neighboring countries and it has also had serious consequence in the increase in inflation, the fact of the deep depreciation of the naira.

In the light of all the challenges encountered by the Member States, the ECOWAS Commission President is calling for the adoption of strategic directions aimed at deepening reforms for the expansion and diversification of the base in order to strengthen the intra-Community trade.

With regard to the implementation of the common external tariff (TEC) intended to build our customs union and to promote trade, only ten (10) of the fifteen (15) Member States have applied to date. He indicated that the five (5) remaining States have express their intention to apply on January 1, 2017. “We invite them to accelerate this implementation which affects the implementation of the trade liberalisation scheme of the ECOWAS,” he urged, adding, that the achievement of our common destiny in an objective of shared prosperity cannot be achieved without a genuine mobility of persons, goods, capital and services.

With regard to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), he informed that Nigeria and the Gambia have still not signed but the Ivory Coast and Ghana have concluded Interim Agreements with the European Union; noting that these agreements will end with the implementation of the regional agreement.

Meanwhile, the 77^th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Commission currently taking place at the ECOWAS Commission continues with its deliberations.