ECOWAS
What is ECOWAS?
- Also known as CEDEAO in French, the regional group was established in 1975 through the Lagos Treaty with a mandate of promoting economic integration among its members.
- Today, ECOWAS has 15 members: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo. Around 400 million people live in this region.
- ECOWAS’ larger aims are to have a single common currency and create a single, large trading bloc in areas of industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, financial issues, and social and cultural matters.
- At the helm of its organisation structure is the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
- The Chairman is the current Head of State and Government and is appointed by other Heads of State and Government to oversee its affairs for one year.
What kind of a role has ECOWAS played in the region so far?
- Beyond the goals of economic cooperation, ECOWAS has attempted to quell military conflicts in the region.
- According to Associated Press, ECOWAS also operated a regional peacekeeping operation known as ECOMOG, led by Nigeria in the 1990s and early 2000s, like in Liberia when forces were first deployed in 1990 during the deadly civil war and in Sierra Leone in 1997 when a democratically elected government was overthrown.
- In 2017, it intervened in The Gambia after longtime President Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing the elections which eventually led to the winner Adama Burrow coming to power.
Syllabus: Prelims
