DISCUSS ECOWAS AS A DEFENSE PACT: AIMS, OBJECTIVES, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS.
INTRODUCTION
The idea for a West African community goes back to President William Tubman of Liberia, who made the call in 1964. A subsequent agreement was signed between Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in February 1965, but this came to nothing. In April 1972, General Gowon of Nigeria and General Eyadema of Togo re-launched the idea, drew up proposals and toured 12 countries, soliciting their plan from July to August 1973. A meeting was then called at Lomé from 10-15 December 1973, which studied a draft treaty. This was further examined at a meeting of experts and jurists in Accra in January 1974 and by a ministerial meeting in Monrovia in January 1975. Finally, 15 West African countries signed the treaty for an Economic Community of West African States (Treaty of Lagos) on 28 May 1975. The protocols launching ECOWAS were signed in Lomé, Togo on 5 November 1976. In July 1993, a revised ECOWAS Treaty designed to accelerate economic integration and to increase political co-operation, was signed.
ECOWAS has been designated one of the five regional pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC). Together with COMESA, ECCAS, IGAD and SADC, ECOWAS signed the Protocol on Relations between the AEC and RECs in February 1998.
The aims of ECOWAS are stated in Article Two of the treaty of the Community as presented here below;
First of all the main aim of the ECOWAS is to promote cooperation and development in all fields of economic activity particularly in the fields of industry, transport, monetary and financial questions and in social and cultural matters for the purpose of raising the standard of living of its peoples, of increasing and maintaining economic stability, of fostering closer relations among its members and of contributing to the progress and development of the African continent.
Secondly is the elimination of custom duties and other similar charges in respect of importation and exportation of goods among Member States.
Furthermore the abolition of quantitative and administrative restrictions on trade among the Member States is another essential aim.
Also among the aims of ECOWAS the is the establishment of a common custom tariff and a common commercial policy towards third countries
The abolition as between the Member states of the obstacles to the free movement of persons, services and capital is another aim.
The harmonization of agricultural policies and the promotion of common projects in the Member States notably in the field of marketing, research and agro-industrial enterprises.
The implementation of schemes for the joint development of transport, communication, energy and other infrastructural facilities as well as the evolution of a common policy in these fields.
The harmonization of the economic and industrial policies of the Member States and the elimination of disparities in the levels of development of Member States.
The harmonization required for the proper functioning of the Community, of the monetary policies of the Member States.
The establishment of a fund for cooperation, compensation and development.
ECOWAS OBJECTIVES
ECOWAS aims to promote co-operation and integration in economic, social and cultural activity, ultimately leading to the establishment of an economic and monetary union through the total integration of the national economies of member states. It also aims to raise the living standards of its peoples, maintain and enhance economic stability, foster relations among member states and contribute to the progress and development of the African Continent. ECOWAS integration policies and programmes are influenced by the prevailing economic conditions in its member countries, the need to take the principal provisions of the AEC Treaty into account, and relevant developments on the international scene.
The revised treaty of 1993, which was to extend economic and political co-operation among member states, designates the achievement of a common market and a single currency as economic objectives, while in the political sphere it provides for a West African parliament, an economic and social council and an ECOWAS court of justice to replace the existing Tribunal and enforce Community decisions. The treaty also formally assigned the Community with the responsibility of preventing and settling regional conflicts
ECOWAS was therefore established to promote cooperation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for promoting economic growth and development in West Africa. The main objective of ECOWAS hence focuses at promoting economic growth and development in West Africa.
STRUCTURE
The Community consists of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers, the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, Peace and Security, the Community Tribunal, the ECOWAS Parliament, the Executive Secretariat and six Specialised Technical Commissions. The ECOWAS Treaty also makes provision for an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with an advisory role, to be composed of representatives of the “various categories of economic and social activity”. This body has not yet been established.
ECOWAS VISION
The vision that the founding fathers had at the time of the creation of ECOWAS was one of collective self-sufficiency through the integration of the sixteen West African countries into an economic block with a single market organized around an economic and monetary union. This concern was born out of the realization that the domestic markets of the member States taken individually were, as a result of their smallness, far from being competitive in a world environment marked by the existence of large trade blocks.
The overall objective of ECOWAS is to promote co-operation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for encouraging economic growth and development in West Africa. In order to do this, the following actions are envisaged:
The suppression of customs duties and equivalent taxes
The establishment of a common external tariff
The harmonization of economic and financial policies
The creation of a monetary zone.
.In view of the slowness in the progress recorded by ECOWAS, the 1975 treaty has been revised. The principle of supranationality in the application of decisions and the autonomous funding of the budgets of the institutions have been introduced. Furthermore, the creation of supranational institutions of control and arbitration has been envisaged in the application of decisions, a court of justice, a parliament and an economic and social council.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF ECOWAS
In spite of the difficulties, ECOWAS has chalked up remarkable progress in the area of free movement of persons, construction of regional (inter-State) roads, development of telecommunication links between the States and maintenance of peace and regional security. It is in the area of the integration of markets that the efforts of the Community have been frustrating. In fact, the trade liberalization scheme is not yet operational as shown by the low level of the intraregional trade which is only 11% as compared to trade with third countries. Besides, the common ECOWAS external tariff has still not seen the light of day and the economic and financial policies have not been harmonized although a framework has been established for this.
Challenges of ECOWAS
Numerous problems have been encountered by ECOWAS in the enhancement of the process of regional integration of West Africa. Among the most important of these problems are as follows;
The political instability and bad governance that have plagued many of the countries
The weakness of the national economies and their insufficient diversification
The absence of reliable road, telecommunications and energy infrastructure
The insufficient political will exhibited by some member States
The bad economic policies in certain cases
The multiplicity of organizations for regional integration with the same objectives
The irregularity in the payment of financial contributions to the budgets of the institutions
The failure to involve the civil society, the private sector and mass movements in the process of integration; the defective nature of the international machinery in certain cases.
ECOWAS PROSPECTS
If, on the whole, the results of the integrational efforts made in West Africa by ECOWAS have, as already indicated, been clearly below expectations, there are, however, promising signs which indicate better prospects for the future. For example, it has been observed that recent events in the political and economic scenery of West Africa have gradually helped to remove the principal obstacles to integration. Among these are;
The advent of democracy in most ECOWAS countries, particularly, in Nigeria which is the dominant economy in West Africa
The gradual withdrawal of the State from the sectors of productive activity, and the realization that the private sector must be the mainspring of growth and economic integration
The adoption of a strategy for accelerating the ECOWAS process of integration in order to create a single regional market based on trade liberalisation, to establish a common external tariff and to harmonise economic and financial policies
The recognition of the relevance of a different approach in the march towards integration as found in the initiative of the non-UEMOA countries in creating a second monetary zone in West Africa which will merge up with the UEMOA zone to give rise to a single ECOWAS monetary zone in the year 2004
The harmonization of the programmes of ECOWAS and UEMOA in connection with the acceleration of the process of integration in West Africa
The liberalization of national markets and external trade that resulted from adjustment and reform programmes and which led to some amount of convergence in macroeconomic policies
The common challenge that is thrown by the creation of trade blocks in other regions of the world and globalization which risks marginalizing Africa, this makes it necessary to accelerate the transition towards an autonomous and self-financed development within the framework of African integration
The restructuring of the Executive Secretariat and ECOWAS Fund within the framework of the improvement of their operational procedures.
CONCLUSION
The widespread trend toward some form of regional economic grouping in both developed and developing countries is no doubt due to growing awareness of the importance of economic interdependence for the promotion of the economic well-being of the peoples of these countries, and for solving and facilitating the solution of some of the knotty economic problems which face individual countries. Even developed countries, which in the 1950s shunned regional integration, have since altered their views and style. For example, the European Coal and Steel community was formed in 1952, and the European Common market in 1957. These were some of the precursors to the modem European Economic Community and European Union.
Hence the presence of ECOWAS came on time to solve problems that were facing member nations.
REFERENCES
Akisanya, Jayeola. List of Articles and Papers Presented on ECOWAS. Ibadan: Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Ibadan, 1978.
Charte des Investissements de la CEMAC. Yaounde: CEMAC, 2000.
Common ECOWAS Statistical Standards and Definitions. Lagos: Economic Community of West African States, 1982.
ECOWAS Social and Economic Indicators. Abuja, ECOWAS, 2000.
Igue, Ogunsola John, ECOWAS: Selected Bibliography .Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, 1984.
Irele, Modupeola. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): a Bibliography and Source. Lagos, Nigeria : Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, 1990.
National Accounts of ECOWAS. Abuja: ECOWAS, 2000.
Statistical Bulletin. Abuja: ECOWAS, 2001.
Statistics on Production of Major Crops in ECOWAS Member States, 1980-1986 Lagos Economic Community of West African States, 1987.
Tableau des Professionnels Liberaux de la Comptabilite Agrees par L'UDEAC/ CEMAC. Bangui, CEMAC.
Tariff des Douanes; Tableau des Droits et Taxes a l'Importation/Customs Tariff;Table of Import Duties and Taxes. Union Douaniere et Economique de l'Afrique Centrale. Choisy-le-Roi impimerie de France, 1969.
Trade Tariffs in ECOWAS Countries. Lagos: The Council, 1991-
The idea for a West African community goes back to President William Tubman of Liberia, who made the call in 1964. A subsequent agreement was signed between Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in February 1965, but this came to nothing. In April 1972, General Gowon of Nigeria and General Eyadema of Togo re-launched the idea, drew up proposals and toured 12 countries, soliciting their plan from July to August 1973. A meeting was then called at Lomé from 10-15 December 1973, which studied a draft treaty. This was further examined at a meeting of experts and jurists in Accra in January 1974 and by a ministerial meeting in Monrovia in January 1975. Finally, 15 West African countries signed the treaty for an Economic Community of West African States (Treaty of Lagos) on 28 May 1975. The protocols launching ECOWAS were signed in Lomé, Togo on 5 November 1976. In July 1993, a revised ECOWAS Treaty designed to accelerate economic integration and to increase political co-operation, was signed.
ECOWAS has been designated one of the five regional pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC). Together with COMESA, ECCAS, IGAD and SADC, ECOWAS signed the Protocol on Relations between the AEC and RECs in February 1998.
The aims of ECOWAS are stated in Article Two of the treaty of the Community as presented here below;
First of all the main aim of the ECOWAS is to promote cooperation and development in all fields of economic activity particularly in the fields of industry, transport, monetary and financial questions and in social and cultural matters for the purpose of raising the standard of living of its peoples, of increasing and maintaining economic stability, of fostering closer relations among its members and of contributing to the progress and development of the African continent.
Secondly is the elimination of custom duties and other similar charges in respect of importation and exportation of goods among Member States.
Furthermore the abolition of quantitative and administrative restrictions on trade among the Member States is another essential aim.
Also among the aims of ECOWAS the is the establishment of a common custom tariff and a common commercial policy towards third countries
The abolition as between the Member states of the obstacles to the free movement of persons, services and capital is another aim.
The harmonization of agricultural policies and the promotion of common projects in the Member States notably in the field of marketing, research and agro-industrial enterprises.
The implementation of schemes for the joint development of transport, communication, energy and other infrastructural facilities as well as the evolution of a common policy in these fields.
The harmonization of the economic and industrial policies of the Member States and the elimination of disparities in the levels of development of Member States.
The harmonization required for the proper functioning of the Community, of the monetary policies of the Member States.
The establishment of a fund for cooperation, compensation and development.
ECOWAS OBJECTIVES
ECOWAS aims to promote co-operation and integration in economic, social and cultural activity, ultimately leading to the establishment of an economic and monetary union through the total integration of the national economies of member states. It also aims to raise the living standards of its peoples, maintain and enhance economic stability, foster relations among member states and contribute to the progress and development of the African Continent. ECOWAS integration policies and programmes are influenced by the prevailing economic conditions in its member countries, the need to take the principal provisions of the AEC Treaty into account, and relevant developments on the international scene.
The revised treaty of 1993, which was to extend economic and political co-operation among member states, designates the achievement of a common market and a single currency as economic objectives, while in the political sphere it provides for a West African parliament, an economic and social council and an ECOWAS court of justice to replace the existing Tribunal and enforce Community decisions. The treaty also formally assigned the Community with the responsibility of preventing and settling regional conflicts
ECOWAS was therefore established to promote cooperation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for promoting economic growth and development in West Africa. The main objective of ECOWAS hence focuses at promoting economic growth and development in West Africa.
STRUCTURE
The Community consists of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers, the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, Peace and Security, the Community Tribunal, the ECOWAS Parliament, the Executive Secretariat and six Specialised Technical Commissions. The ECOWAS Treaty also makes provision for an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with an advisory role, to be composed of representatives of the “various categories of economic and social activity”. This body has not yet been established.
ECOWAS VISION
The vision that the founding fathers had at the time of the creation of ECOWAS was one of collective self-sufficiency through the integration of the sixteen West African countries into an economic block with a single market organized around an economic and monetary union. This concern was born out of the realization that the domestic markets of the member States taken individually were, as a result of their smallness, far from being competitive in a world environment marked by the existence of large trade blocks.
The overall objective of ECOWAS is to promote co-operation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for encouraging economic growth and development in West Africa. In order to do this, the following actions are envisaged:
The suppression of customs duties and equivalent taxes
The establishment of a common external tariff
The harmonization of economic and financial policies
The creation of a monetary zone.
.In view of the slowness in the progress recorded by ECOWAS, the 1975 treaty has been revised. The principle of supranationality in the application of decisions and the autonomous funding of the budgets of the institutions have been introduced. Furthermore, the creation of supranational institutions of control and arbitration has been envisaged in the application of decisions, a court of justice, a parliament and an economic and social council.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF ECOWAS
In spite of the difficulties, ECOWAS has chalked up remarkable progress in the area of free movement of persons, construction of regional (inter-State) roads, development of telecommunication links between the States and maintenance of peace and regional security. It is in the area of the integration of markets that the efforts of the Community have been frustrating. In fact, the trade liberalization scheme is not yet operational as shown by the low level of the intraregional trade which is only 11% as compared to trade with third countries. Besides, the common ECOWAS external tariff has still not seen the light of day and the economic and financial policies have not been harmonized although a framework has been established for this.
Challenges of ECOWAS
Numerous problems have been encountered by ECOWAS in the enhancement of the process of regional integration of West Africa. Among the most important of these problems are as follows;
The political instability and bad governance that have plagued many of the countries
The weakness of the national economies and their insufficient diversification
The absence of reliable road, telecommunications and energy infrastructure
The insufficient political will exhibited by some member States
The bad economic policies in certain cases
The multiplicity of organizations for regional integration with the same objectives
The irregularity in the payment of financial contributions to the budgets of the institutions
The failure to involve the civil society, the private sector and mass movements in the process of integration; the defective nature of the international machinery in certain cases.
ECOWAS PROSPECTS
If, on the whole, the results of the integrational efforts made in West Africa by ECOWAS have, as already indicated, been clearly below expectations, there are, however, promising signs which indicate better prospects for the future. For example, it has been observed that recent events in the political and economic scenery of West Africa have gradually helped to remove the principal obstacles to integration. Among these are;
The advent of democracy in most ECOWAS countries, particularly, in Nigeria which is the dominant economy in West Africa
The gradual withdrawal of the State from the sectors of productive activity, and the realization that the private sector must be the mainspring of growth and economic integration
The adoption of a strategy for accelerating the ECOWAS process of integration in order to create a single regional market based on trade liberalisation, to establish a common external tariff and to harmonise economic and financial policies
The recognition of the relevance of a different approach in the march towards integration as found in the initiative of the non-UEMOA countries in creating a second monetary zone in West Africa which will merge up with the UEMOA zone to give rise to a single ECOWAS monetary zone in the year 2004
The harmonization of the programmes of ECOWAS and UEMOA in connection with the acceleration of the process of integration in West Africa
The liberalization of national markets and external trade that resulted from adjustment and reform programmes and which led to some amount of convergence in macroeconomic policies
The common challenge that is thrown by the creation of trade blocks in other regions of the world and globalization which risks marginalizing Africa, this makes it necessary to accelerate the transition towards an autonomous and self-financed development within the framework of African integration
The restructuring of the Executive Secretariat and ECOWAS Fund within the framework of the improvement of their operational procedures.
CONCLUSION
The widespread trend toward some form of regional economic grouping in both developed and developing countries is no doubt due to growing awareness of the importance of economic interdependence for the promotion of the economic well-being of the peoples of these countries, and for solving and facilitating the solution of some of the knotty economic problems which face individual countries. Even developed countries, which in the 1950s shunned regional integration, have since altered their views and style. For example, the European Coal and Steel community was formed in 1952, and the European Common market in 1957. These were some of the precursors to the modem European Economic Community and European Union.
Hence the presence of ECOWAS came on time to solve problems that were facing member nations.
REFERENCES
Akisanya, Jayeola. List of Articles and Papers Presented on ECOWAS. Ibadan: Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Ibadan, 1978.
Charte des Investissements de la CEMAC. Yaounde: CEMAC, 2000.
Common ECOWAS Statistical Standards and Definitions. Lagos: Economic Community of West African States, 1982.
ECOWAS Social and Economic Indicators. Abuja, ECOWAS, 2000.
Igue, Ogunsola John, ECOWAS: Selected Bibliography .Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, 1984.
Irele, Modupeola. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): a Bibliography and Source. Lagos, Nigeria : Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, 1990.
National Accounts of ECOWAS. Abuja: ECOWAS, 2000.
Statistical Bulletin. Abuja: ECOWAS, 2001.
Statistics on Production of Major Crops in ECOWAS Member States, 1980-1986 Lagos Economic Community of West African States, 1987.
Tableau des Professionnels Liberaux de la Comptabilite Agrees par L'UDEAC/ CEMAC. Bangui, CEMAC.
Tariff des Douanes; Tableau des Droits et Taxes a l'Importation/Customs Tariff;Table of Import Duties and Taxes. Union Douaniere et Economique de l'Afrique Centrale. Choisy-le-Roi impimerie de France, 1969.
Trade Tariffs in ECOWAS Countries. Lagos: The Council, 1991-
posted by mwesigye herbert at 2:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home