Economic Community of West African States

All you want to know about Economic Community of West African States

Economic Community of West African States
Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest
Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental
flag of the Economic Community of West African States
Location of the Economic Community of West African States
Headquarters Abuja, Nigeria
6°27′N 3°23′E / 6.45, 3.383
Largest city Lagos, Nigeria
Official languages French, English, Portuguese
Membership 15
Leaders
 -  Chairman Flag of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaore
Establishment
 -  Treaty of Lagos May 28, 1975 
Area
 -  Total 5,112,903 km² (7th)
1,5,352,86 sq mi 
Population
 -  2006 estimate 251,646,263 (4th)
 -  Density 115.6/km² 
299.4/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
 -  Total U$ 342,519 Billion (28th)
 -  Per capita U$ 7,890 
Currency Cape Verdean escudo (CVE)
Cedi (GHC)2
Dalasi (GMD)2
Guinean franc (GNF)2
Liberian dollar (LRD)3
Naira (NGN)2
Leone (SLL)3
West African CFA franc (XOF)
Time zone (UTC0 to +2)
1 If considered as a single entity.
2 to be replaced by the eco in 2009.
3 Liberia has expressed an interest in joining the eco.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen West African countries, founded on May 28, 1975 with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos. Its mission is to promote economic integration. In 1976 Cape Verde joined ECOWAS, and in December 2000 Mauritania withdrew,[1] having announced its intention to do so in December 1999.[2]

It was founded to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for the member states by means of economic and monetary union creating a single large trading bloc. The very slow progress towards this aim meant that the treaty was revised in Cotonou on July 24, 1993 towards a looser collaboration. The ECOWAS Secretariat and the Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development are its two main institutions to implement policies. The ECOWAS Fund was transformed into the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development in 2001.

ECOWAS is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community.

Member states of ECOWAS are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The current Executive Secretary is Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas. The current chairman is President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso.

Operating officially in three coequal languages (French, English, and Portuguese), in Francophone nations it is called Communauté économique des Etats de l'Afrique de l'ouest or (CEDEAO).

Contents

Members

Map of ECOWAS as of 2006.
Map of ECOWAS as of 2006.

Currency Cooperation

Currencies of ECOWAS      UEMOA (West CFA franc)      WAMZ (Eco)      none yet
Currencies of ECOWAS      UEMOA (West CFA franc)      WAMZ (Eco)      none yet
Main article: CFA franc

The West African CFA franc (XOF), created on December 26, 1945, is currently used in six formerly French-ruled African countries, as well as in Guinea-Bissau (former Portuguese colony). It is managed by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).

Main article: Eco (currency)

The Eco is the proposed name for the common currency the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) plans to introduce on 1 December 2009. The WAMZ includes the Anglophone countries of Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, and the Francophone nation of Guinea. Liberia is also interested in joining this monetary union. The ultimate goal is to unite the UEMOA and the WAMZ to form a single monetary zone in West Africa (ECOWAS), which Cape Verde would then also join.

Free movement of people

Regional Security Cooperation

The ECOWAS nations have signed a non-aggression protocol in 1990 as well as two earlier agreements in 1978 and 1981. They have also signed a Protocol on Mutual Defence Assistance, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 29 May 1981 that provided for the establishment of an Allied Armed Force of the Community

See also: ECOMOG

Sporting and cultural exchange

ECOWAS nations organise a broad array of cultural and sport meetings under the auspices of the body, ranging from the CEDEAO Cup in football, to the Miss CEDEAO Beauty pageant.

Comparison with other Regional blocs

Most active regional blocs
(as of 2004,[citation needed] except as noted)
Regional bloc1 Area Population GDP ($US) Member
states1
km² sq mi in millions (PPP) in millions (nominal) per capita (PPP) per capita (nominal)
AU 29,797,500 11,504,879 897,548,804 1,515,000 1,131,850 1,896 1,261 53
ASEAN (2007 est.) 4,497,493 1,736,000 566,500,000 3,115,480 1,173,000 5,541 2,041 10
CACM 422,614 163,172 37,816,598 159,536 84,792 4,219 2,242 5
CARICOM 462,344 178,512 14,565,083 64,219 24,020 4,409 1,649 (14+1)3
CCASG / GCC 2,285,844 882,569 35,869,438 536,223 717,800 14,949 20,011 6
CEFTA 298,148 115,116 28,929,682 222,041 122,001 7,675 4,217 (7+1)3
EU (2007 est.) 4,324,782 1,669,808 497,000,000 14,953,000 16,574,000 28,213 33,482 27
EurAsEC 20,789,100 8,026,720 208,067,618 1,689,137 1,125,528 8,118 5,409 6
EFTA (2007 est.) 529,600 204,480 12,660,623 567,500 743,300 44,828 60,000 4
GAFTA 9,421,946 3,637,834 280,727,416 1,341,298 N/A 4,778 N/A (16+1)3
GUAM 810,506 312,938 63,764,600 456,173 106,469 7,154 1,670 4
NAFTA (2007 est.) 21,783,850 8,410,792 445,000,000 15,857,000 15,723,000 35,491 35,564 3
PARTA 528,151 203,920 34,137,339 858,970 N/A 2,954 N/A (12+2)3
SAARC 5,136,740 1,983,306 1,467,255,669 4,074,031 N/A 2,777 N/A 8
Unasur / Unasul 17,339,153 6,694,684 370,158,470 2,868,430 N/A 7,749 N/A 12
UN and countries
for reference2		 Area Population GDP ($US) Units4
km² sq mi in millions (PPP) in millions (nominal) per capita (PPP) per capita (nominal)
UN 133,178,011 51,420,318 6,411,682,270 55,167,630 48,245,198 8,604 7,524 192
Brazil (2007 est.) 8,514,877 3,287,612 183,888,841 1,804,000 1,067,706 10,073 6,842 27
Canada (2007 est.) 9,984,670 3,855,103 33,000,000 1,274,000 1,406,000 38,200 42,738 13
India (2007 est.) 3,287,590 1,269,346 1,120,000,000 4,726,000 1,089,000 4,182 1,004 35
Japan (2007 est.) 377,873 145,898 127,433,494 4,346,000 4,346,000 33,800 38,341 47
PR China5 (2007 est.) 9,596,960 3,705,407 1,321,851,888 7,043,000 3,420,000 5,300 2,800 33
Russia (2007 est.) 17,075,200 6,592,772 142,500,000 2,076,000 1,286,000 14,600 9,056 83
USA (2007 est.) 9,826,630 3,794,083 302,000,000 13,543,000 13,794,700 43,500 45,594 50
Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database, IMF nominal figures for 2006.[citation needed]
Legend
     smallest value among the blocs compared     largest value among the blocs compared

Footnotes
1 Including data only for full and most active members.
2 Including the largest five countries by area, population (not #4), GDP (PPP) (not #5), and GDP (nominal) (not #3 or #5).
3 Including non-sovereign autonomous areas of other states.
4 Members or administrative divisions.
5 Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau, or Republic of China (Taiwan).

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African Economic Community
Pillars
regional
blocs (REC)		 Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member
states
in millions per capita
AEC 29,910,442 853,520,010 2,053,706 2,406 53
ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15
ECCAS 6,667,421 121,245,958 175,928 1,451 11
SADC 9,882,959 233,944,179 737,335 3,152 15
EAC 1,817,945 124,858,568 104,239 1,065 5
COMESA 12,873,957 406,102,471 735,599 1,811 20
IGAD 5,233,604 187,969,775 225,049 1,197 7
Western
Sahara 1		 266,000 273,008  ?  ? N/A 2
Other
African
blocs		 Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member
states
in millions per capita
CEMAC 3 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6
SACU 3 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5
UEMOA 3 3,505,375 80,865,222 101,640 1,257 8
UMA 4 5,782,140 84,185,073 491,276 5,836 5
GAFTA 5 5,876,960 166,259,603 635,450 3,822 5
1 The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a
signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet

2 Majority under military occupation by Morocco; some
territory administered by the SADR
3 Economic bloc inside a pillar REC
4 Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation
5 Non-African members of GAFTA are excluded from figures
     smallest value among the blocs compared      largest value among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database

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Executive Secretaries

African Union

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the African Union
Institutions
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Chairmen

See also

References

  1. ^ ECOWAS Executive Secretariat (2002) Fostering Regional Integration through NEPAD Implementation Annual Report 2002 of the Executive Secretary Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Abuja: ECOWAS
  2. ^ ECOWAS Executive Secretariat (2000) Executive Secretary's Report 2000, Abuja: ECOWAS

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States"

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