ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WESTERN AFRICAN STATES – ECOWAS

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 30 June 2010

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ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WESTERN AFRICAN STATES – ECOWAS is a group of 15 countries in Africa established on 28 May 1975. It was established after signing the treaty of Lagos. The main objective is to promote economic integration in all the fields including industry, agriculture, transport, commerce, telecommunications, natural resources, and economic activity. In 2002 Mauritania withdrew from its membership and in 1976 Cape Verde joined the organization. The present Chairman of ECOWAS is S.E. Capt. Blaise Campore. The present secretary of ECOWAS is Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas.

The Institutions of ECOWAS

ECOWAS operates through the various organizations that comprise of ECOWAS. The organizations are:
  • The Commission
  • The Community Court of Justice
  • The Community Parliament
  • ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) The ECOWAS Secretariat has been transformed into Commission of ECOWAS. The heads of the states along with the government decided to transform and give the organization a new image. ECOWAS had existed through a long time and had carried on with their efforts towards economic integration but after the transformation they have found new confidence and with this they have started to work with new enthusiasm towards creating conducive environment for the economic growth. Along with the transformation it has also adopted new regime for community acts. With the implementation of the new regime supranationality gains more emphasis and the protocols and Conventions are less emphasized. The Community Acts are equivalent to Supplementary Acts, which have been formulated to bind the member states. The Council of Ministers shoulder a duty of enacting the directives, regulations, makes decisions and recommendations. The Commission adopts espouses the rules and the acts are implemented by them. It also offers recommendations, which are not binding.

    The Community Court of Justice came into being in 1991. Article 76 has assigned a role to the Community Court of ECOWAS. It has two major functions. They are:
  • The court is the interpreter of the treaty.
  • One member state has the right to appeal against the other in case of a conflict. But the verdict of the court would be final.

    The court comprises of 7 members who are appointed from among the member nations. Among the 7 members two of them are elected as the President and the Vice –President. The president has administrative functions to shoulder and in absence if the president the vice president shoulders the responsibilities. The court appoints the Chief Registrar for term of six years.

    The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development is one of the integral parts of the Commission funding projects to improve the conditions of the member states. The Community Parliament has been renovated and has been empowered to a greater extent than it was previously.

    The Special Institutions

    There are certain special institutions, which help ECOWAS to carry out its responsibility. They are:
  • West African Monetary Agency
  • ECOWAS Youth and Sports Center
  • West African Health Organization
  • ECOWAS Gender Development Center
  • Water Resources Coordination unit
  • ECOWAS Brown Card
  • The West African Power Pool


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