W/African Economy Grows to 4.5% -- ECOWAS
From Cletus Akwaya in Abuja
The performance of the West African economy attained a high of 4.5 per cent by the end of last year, from the 1.5 per cent growth rate it attained in 2002, the best in recent years, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced yesterday.
And this was in spite of the spill- over of the lingering political crisis in Cote d' Ivoire to the neighbouring countries giving the integration of that country's economy to those of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, who disclosed this yesterday at the opening of the second session of the ECOWAS Parliament attributed the performance to " the favourable commodity prices for West African exports, particularly petroleum, cocoa, gold and cotton" adding that "part of the good performance was also due to good weather conditions and the application of sounder economic policies."
The second ordinary session slated to end by September 11 is being attended by parliamentarians from all the ECOWAS member countries.
Chambas in an hour-long speech to the regional parliamentarians, however, noted that the performance was just half the rate that West African economy must attain each year in order for the sub-region to half in 2015, the population living in abject poverty.
"Obviously, the traditional means hitherto employed for generating growth would not suffice; more powerful strategy is required for West Africa to sustain a 7 % growth rate and attain the other millennium development goals. The way out of the poverty trap lies with regional cooperation and the ECOWAS integration process. And that means that all of us, as Community officials directly involved in that process, should resolve and pledge to re-double our efforts," he said.
In this regard, the Executive Secretary disclosed that ECOWAS has adopted a comprehensive approach to regional integration which entailed "moving West Africa towards market integration, monetary integration, physical integration, production integration and political integration."
He said ECOWAS programmes had been re-designed to accommodate the implementation of the New Partnership for African Economic Development (NEPAD) adding that the sub-regional body has also embarked on the formulation of a poverty reduction strategy paper(PRSP) to supplement national PRSPs.
He mentioned other regional integration strategies being implemented as harmonization of macro-economic and sectoral policies, regional trade liberalization, infrastructural development, regional peace and security, and capacity building.
He said ECOWAS secretariat had since 2003 created the necessary synergy with NEPAD saying this had helped in the implementation of NEPAD programmes and projects in the areas of road transport, telecommunications, energy, monetary and fiscal policies, agriculture and food security, inter-regional trade development and external market access, as well as political governance.
On regional peace and security, Chambas noted with hope, "the signs of durable peace" in Cote d' Ivoire as regards the return of the Nouvelles Forces to the Government of National Reconciliation as well as the commitment of the parties to the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration programme in Liberia and the emerging prospects of a quick return to a constitutional order in Guinea Bissau.
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