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ABUJA (AFP) - The European Union and west African economic and political grouping ECOWAS have signed a financing agreement worth 1.95 million euros ($1.67 million) to help establish a regional common market, a communiqué said. The accord, signed on Monday during a first-ever joint ministerial meeting of the EU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is aimed at strengthening ECOWAS capacities in the area of regional cooperation. The EU had earlier provided 1.9 million euros for the implementation of the ECOWAS mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security, the text said. The two parties agreed that they would continue to hold regular meetings to enable them take measures to cement relations between them. The EU commended ongoing cooperation initiatives between ECOWAS and the francophone West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and urged the two bodies to accelerate the harmonization of their programs. The meeting discussed institutional developments within the two organizations, prospects for economic partnership agreement between them in accordance with a recent agreement signed in Cotonou, and increasing European assistance to ECOWAS regional integration and cooperation initiatives. The two parties also discussed future programs and orientations for the EU and ECOWAS cooperation, the document said. Regional aid to West Africa under the 8th European Development Fund over the period ending in 2001 totals 228 million euros ($195 million). The EU is West Africa's leading partner in the area of development cooperation and trade, the document said. The Abuja meeting is part of preparations on new trade agreements between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries aimed at drawing up a timetable for the gradual removal of all obstacles to trade between the parties concerned under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Ministers from Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo attended the meeting along with ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate. ECOWAS has 15 members: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. A 16th member, Mauritania, is currently in the process of leaving the organization. ECOWAS was established in 1975 to promote economic integration of the region. |
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