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ECOWAS Security Council Meeting Holds In Abuja To Proffer, Improve Security In WA
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The ECOWAS 38th Mediation and Security Council (MSC) at the Ambassadorial level holds on the 16th of June 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria to deliberate on how to create a safer and more stable West African region.
Issues of discussions borders on Transitions, Peace and Security Situation, the operationalization of ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF), the ECOWAS Stabilization Missions, Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing as well as the Humanitarian Situation in the Region including and update on ECOWAS Early Warning System.
In a release from the ECOWAS Commissions office in Abuja made available to Daybreak today, the meeting will visit the Revision of the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
ECOWAS leaders have continuously taken note of the fact that the region is confronted by complex peace, security, and governance challenges while terrorism, armed conflicts, unconstitutional changes in power, and transnational crimes are some of the most urgent factors contributing to state and human insecurity in the region.
These threats have multifaceted consequences in member states and the region at large. The MSC Ambassadorial is a preparatory meeting for the subsequent statutory assemblages of ECOWAS, the release stated.
June 15, 2023
ECOWAS holds Workshop on Peace, Conflicts Resolution in the Region
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
As a way of curbing crisis in member States, the ECOWAS Commission organized a Monitoring and Evaluation capacity building Workshop on Peace and Conflicts resolution in the region.
The Three-Day Workshop held on the 26th of April, 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria.
Head, Mediation and Coordination of Regional Political Affairs Division (MCRPA) Dr. Onyinye Onwuka said that the Workshop is apt at a time when the ECOWAS Commission needs to devise urgent and creative ways of facilitating real transformation in Member States through impactful Monitoring and Evaluation skills.
Furthermore, the Workshop was to provide support Directorates of Political Affairs (DPA), and Strategic Planning and other relevant Directorates on how to improve the quality of their strategic and annual work plans and ways of mainstreaming of gender and youth issues correctly.

ECOWAS Programme Officer, Conflict Prevention Mr. Constant Gnacadja, opined that the workshop will provide the needed support to ECOWAS Directorates on Programmes implementation in line with the ECOWAS Vision 2050.
Gnacadja appreciated the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Tana Copenhagen M&E team for advancing the realization of the ECOWAS Community goal of ensuring a more stable, prosperous and peaceful West Africa.
There were various presentations on needs assessment, context analysis and Theory of Change to enhance M&E best practices and recommendations.
Furthermore, there were exchange ideas by participants to encourage cross-departmental synergy among ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) and M&E Focal Points, and to empower Member States to scale up conflict prevention interventions in the region.
It is part of Denmark’s support to ECOWAS through the Africa Programme for Peace phase IV (APP IV).
May 2, 2023
ECOWAS To Implement Intra-Trade, Free Movement Of Goods In Region
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The ECOWAS Regional Trade Facilitation Committee (RTFC) is set to facilitate non-tariff barriers on intra- trade and free movement of goods in the region.
The third RTFC meeting which was held in Accra, Ghana from 27 – 29 March was to review the implementation of regional trade facilitation reforms and consider innovative approaches to improve free movement of goods in the region.
The aim of the meeting was to create a platform for the Committee to review the ECOWAS Non-Tariff Barrier (NTB) Elimination Policy and the Regional Trade and Transport Facilitation Strategy, to significantly reduce the challenges faced traders in the region and increase intra-ECOWAS trade.
President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo who hosted the experts noted that the 3rd RTFC meeting is to address trade barriers in the region and provide the West African region the opportunity to work together to form common positions, and effectively benefit from the continental free trade area.
Akufo- Addo urged the Commission and Member States to take advantage of AfCFTA to develop local economies and improve intra-regional trade in West Africa.
Secretary General at the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, and Chair of the Meeting, Mr. DJALO,
represented by Madame Massandje TOURE-LITSE, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, and Mr. Kolawole SOFOLA, Acting Director of Trade noted that trade facilitation is among the most effective solutions to maintain the normal flow of the global supply chain and mitigate the negative effects of conflicts and crisis.
He emphasized that the RTFC is a rallying point for stakeholders from the private and public sectors to deal with trade facilitation reforms which cut across various related sectors.
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The Third RTFC Meeting was attended by Member States’ Experts representing the Ministries responsible for Trade, Customs Administrations and National Chamber of Commerce.
Also present at the meeting were representatives of the ECOWAS Commission and Regional Business Associations, also World Bank Group, the World Trade Organization, the German Agency for International Development and United Nation’s Conference for Trade and Development.
April 16, 2023
ECOWAS, AU Deploys Pre-Election fact finding mission to Sierra Leone
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
Ahead of the Sierra Leone general elections coming up on 24th June, 2023, ECOWAS Commission and the African Union have deployed a Joint Technical pre-election fact finding Mission to the country to ensure the compliance with for credible elections , democracy and good governance.
The Joint Mission ission was launched by the technical leader , Amb, Abdel- Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commission for Political Affairs, Peace and Security and Amb. Calixie Aristide Mbari, Head of Democracy, Elections and Constitutionalism.
Members of the Joint Mission who paid a courtesy call on the Sierria Leone President, Julius Maada Bio said that the aim is to hold consultative meetings with all political actors and stakeholders to assess the p country’s state of preparedness in the country’s forthcoming elections for a successful elections and to give support when the need arises.
The joint mission is expected to meet to identify gaps and support efforts aimed at building a consensus for a conducive environment to enable the conduct of peaceful and credible elections in Sierra Leone.
April 16, 2023
ECOWAS received 32m (Euros) EU funds to revamp Energy sector
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The European Union, EU has donated the sum of thirty-two million Euros to EVOWAS member States to help revamp the West Africa Energy sector.
supported the ECOWAS Energy market with the sum of € 32 m Euros) for the improvement of Energy performance in West Africa.
At a meeting in Bissau, Guinea Bissua, Madeleine Onclin, Head of Cooperation at the European Delegation to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, disclosed that the EU has funded ECOWAS with thirty-two million euros (€ 32,000,000) to support the implementation of the Programme for Improvement of Energy Performance in West Africa (AGoSE-AO).
“The EU will continue to support West African States to access clean and sustainable Energy”, she added.
Commissioner of Enterprise Development, Mining, Energy and Digital Economy of the UEMOA Commission, Dr. KPaul Koffi Koffi commended ECOWAS initiative for the development of the energy sector in the Region.
He disclosed that about 10 billion dollars would be used to support development of energy poles in the region and he promised to synergize with ECOWAS to achieve common objectives in the energy sector.
While stressing the role of energy as a catalyst for socio-economic development, Mr. Sédiko Douka, Commissioner of Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation of the ECOWAS Commission, emphasized that currently ECOWAS energy challenges stands 53%.
Doukà said that to deal with this critical challenge ECOWAS is developing a vast program of access to electricity through two major regional projects of more than one billion USD with financing from the World Bank (ECOREAP, BEST, ROGEAP).
Meanwhile,Ministers in Charge of Energy from ECOWAS Member States met in Bissau , the Guinea Bissua capital on March 24, 2023 to adopt ECOWAS Energy Policy, the Regional Electricity Green Hydrogen Policy, among others.
Ministers used the occasion to fine-tune the regional electricity market, the state of compliance of the Member States vis-à-vis the Directive on securing cross-border electricity exchanges within the framework of the regional electricity market, the ECREEE Strategic Plan 2023-2027, and the West African Gas Pipeline project and the natural gas as a transition fuel.
March 25, 2023
Member countries meet in Bissau to push for Legal framework on ECOWAS Single Currency
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
ECOWAS member countries began a push for the ECOWAS Single Currency for easy transactions across the West Africa as the technical Committee met yesterday in Bissau the Capital of Guinea- Bissau to delibrate on consensus for workable legal framework for actualization.
The Experts deliberated the consensus on the definition of “Majority of Member States on the Single Currency and the legal framework and the management of the Special Fund for the financing of the programmes of the revised Roadmap of the ECOWAS Single Currency.
Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture of the ECOWAS Commission ,Ms. Massandjé TOURE-LISTE, who was represented Hon. Mambury NJIE, Special Adviser to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, called on the members of the Technical Committee to ” engage in frank, direct and constructive discussions, while keeping in mind the solidarity spirit that will lead to consensus on the definition of the “Majority.”
Chairman of the Technical Committee,Dr. Carfa Embaló, who opened the meeting, urged the Committee Members to work in line with the Community Spirit towards a consensus on all the issues submitted o them for deliberations.
The Macroeconomic Policies Technical Committee Meeting was held ahead of the Ministerial Committee on the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme (ECOWAS Convergence Council) holding n Bissau today.
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March 17, 2023
ECOWAS Deploys 163 Observers to Monitor Governorship , State Assembly Elections in Nigeria
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alkeu Touray today deployed 163 observers to monitor the gubernatorial and State Assembly Elections in Nigeria coming up on Saturday, 18 March 2023.
The deployment of the one hundred and sixty-three (163) observers is in line with the provisions of Articles 42(2) and 44(b) of the 1999 ECOWAS Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Security: Article 12 of the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and Article 53(c) of the 2008 ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.
Accordingly, the observers are to be drawn from the Community Institutions such as the Commission, Parliament, and the Court of Justice); West African Ambassadors accredited to ECOWAS; Member States’ Electoral Commissions and Ministries of Foreign Affairs; and electoral experts from civil society. It will also include a thirteen-member Core Team of electoral experts that has been in the country before the presidential and national assembly elections.
Furthermore, Ambassador Abdel- Fatau Musa the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security. Mission will coordinate the ECOWAS Technical Team.
According to a statement from ECOWAS made available to Daybreak today, the 163-member ECOWAS EOM will be deployed from 15 to 21 March 2023 to eighteen (18) States, identified based on a technical assessment and analysis of trends and hotspots, to physically and remotely monitor the elections.
The States includeSouth-West: Lagos – Ogun – Oyo. South-South: Rivers – Edo – Delta . South-East: Enugu – Ebonyi – Imo.
North-Central: Nasarawa – Plateau – Benue .
North-West: Kano – Kaduna – Sokoto and
North-East: Maiduguri – Adamawa – Taraba

The statement also noted that ECOWAS deployed 250 observers across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria during the 25th February Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
The 18 March elections will complete the current electoral cycle in Nigeria, following the 25 February.
March 15, 2023
ECOWAS moves to eliminate child, forced labour in sub region
By Joyce Remi- Babayeju
The ECOWAS Commission has adopted the Regional Action Plan on Decent Work as it moves to eliminate child labour and forced labour in West Africa.
ECOWAS Ministers of Labour and Employment Relations made this decision at a hybrid meeting held on March 3rd, 2023.
Chairman of the meeting, Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, Mr Cirilo Djalo said that the objective of the meeting was a platform for the Ministers to adopt the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour ( 2021- 2022), and for approval for of the extension of the implementation period of the ECOWAS Decent Work Regional Programme , EDWRP, to 2026.
Cirilo Djalo, in his keynote address said that available data shows that the lives and development of millions of children in West Africa continue to be at risk as nearly one in four children in Sub-Saharan Africa is exposed to child labour.
The Minister, while highlighting the key progress so far made by the Republic of Guinea Bissau in promoting and protecting the rights of the child through a number of legal and policy instruments, expressed optimism that the five priority areas outlined in the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour (2021– 2030) are achievable because they are aligned to the goals of the SDGs and the AU Agenda 2063, to which all ECOWAS Member states are already committed to implementing.
The Commissioner of Human Development and Social Affairs, Professor Fatou Sow Sarr, in his welcome address commended
the initiative and noted that child labour and promoting decent work are important considering the high unemployment rates, high levels of informality, continuous growth in precarious jobs, especially among the self-employed in the informal sector in the region.
Sarr stated that despite the challenges are enormous, they are surmountable and that the narrative could be changed through cooperation, as well as building an ECOWAS of the people where there is peace and prosperity for all.
March 13, 2023
ECOWAS organizes training for 30 Researchers in The Gambia
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Department of Human Development and Social Affairs at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology (MoHERST) of The Gambia, organized a capacity building workshop on Research Writing Methodologies and Research Projects for Researchers.
The Capacity building programme which runs from March 6-17, 2023 at the MoHERST Conference Hall in Bijilo is a Train of Trainer, ToT, programme aimed at training researchers on drafting research methodologies and research projects for funding from partners according to international standards.
Furthermore, the Trained researchers will in turn be responsible for building the capacity of other researchers in the country.
The Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Professor Pierre Gomez, who officially opened the workshop on March 7, 2023 appreciated Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia to ECOWAS, for answering the Ministry’s clarion call to help build The Gambia’s capacities on the new rules of drafting research projects for the acquisition of external funding.
Professor Gomez said, “The aim of this training is to create a critical mass of researchers in the public sectors who would later embark on a step-down training to a larger group of stakeholders, adding that about the 30 researchers in The Gambia would be benefiting from that important training.
He urged participants to use the to gain relevant skills in identifying the constraints and learning solutions related to fund-seeking methodologies and MS Project skills writing.
Furthermore, Prof Gomez disclosed that MoHERST was now implementing various projects structured within the country’s development blueprint such as Agriculture, food security and nutrition, climate-resilient economy, research science technology and innovation, digital economy, gender, youths and inclusive development.
Setting up a poll of researchers and challenging them to learn new ways of sourcing funds for the sector is a precondition for our survival and development, and for preservation of our sovereignty as a nation, a continent and a people, Gomez stressed.
The Permanent Secretary of MoHERST, Dr Yusupha Touray who chaired the Opening Ceremony emphasized that the importance of training Researchers in The Gambia on ways of attracting funds for research methodologies and projects.
Dr Roland KOUAKOU, Head of Division, Scientific Research and Innovation at ECOWAS, represented the Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs at the ECOWAS Commission, Professor Fatou Sow Sarr noted that ECOWAS had always considered science and technological innovation as essential areas for initiating the socio-economic and cultural development and competitiveness among Member States.
Kouakou decried the poor public funding and the low investment in research and development.
He explained that similar training had already taken place in Benin, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Niger and Senegal, adding that the Togolese Republic is the next in line.
The training Consultants are Professor Kouassi Marcel Aka, Professor Mrs. Drame Yaye Aissetou from ECOWAS and Dr Hamedou Jawara from The University of The Gambia and Mr. Clifford Shegun Hughes a Local Consultant in The Gambia.
March 11, 2023
Experts meet in Dakar to amend ECOWAS Consumer Protection Rights to meet best Regional practices
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
Technical Experts from the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority, ERVA, have recently met in Dakar, Republic of Senegal to review and amend the Draft ECOWAS Directive on Consumer Protection Draft to meet best global practices.
The meeting which held from 26th February to 3rd March 2023 converged six technical Working Groups from the ERCA Consultative Competition Committee (CCC) and ERCA staff.
The Executive Director of ERCA, Dr. Simeon Koffi stated that the purpose of the meeting was to review the draft Directive on Consumer Protection in line with the recommendations of the ECOWAS Ministers in charge of Trade and Industry (ECOMOTI) at a meeting held in Abidjan ,November 2022.
Chairperson of the CCC, Ms..Bolanle Boladale Adeyinka thanked the ERCA for organizing the meeting and emphasized the need to amend the document around the orientation of the Ministers of Trade and Industry.
Adeyinka called for flexible institutional framework to enable member States to adopt the appropriate mechanisms for consumer protection in line with the goals and objectives set up at the regional level and also with best practices.
She urged CCC members to open the information chain between trade experts and Ministers of Trade and Industry to facilitate the validation of the draft Directive.
The Directive is the first step in developing a holistic framework for consumer protection in the region.
This instrument will help ERCA in promoting and enforcing the regional framework on consumer protection and will contribute to enhancing the welfare of consumers within the ECOWAS region, Adeyinka explained.
March 6, 2023