ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA Economic Community of West African States CONTENT LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF CHARTS ....................................................................................................vii LIST OF BOXES .....................................................................................................vii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. .x FOREWORD ........................................................................................................xi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. xiv INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................xix I. RATIONALE FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA .....................................1 1. THEORETICAL REASONS. 1 1.1. Overview of regional integration ...........................................................................1 1.2. Static and dynamic effects of trade integration ..............................................................3 1.3. Potential benefits from sectoral policy coordination .........................................................5 1.4. Advantages and success factors in currency and financial unification ........................................6 2. HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL REASONS .........................................................................7 2.1. Historical facts and geographical context ...................................................................7 2.2. Cross-border initiatives and activities .......................................................................7 3. HISTORY OF SUB-REGIONAL INTEGRATION INITIATIVES ...................................................... 11 II. ESTABLISHMENT AND EVOLUTION OF ECOWAS ................................................. 12 1. GOALS PURSUED BY ECOWAS FOUNDING FATHERS ........................................................... 13 2. MAJOR STEPS AND DECISIONS ................................................................................ 14 2.1. The Revised Treaty ....................................................................................... 14 2.2. Subsequent institutional development ................................................................... 16 2.3. Community-building gains ............................................................................... 17 III. REVIEW OF MAJOR ECOWAS COMMON SECTORAL POLICIES. 25 1. TRADE, CUSTOMS AND FREE MOVEMENT ..................................................................... 26 1.1. Free movement of persons ............................................................................... 26 1.2. Free movement of goods ................................................................................. 27 2. INFRASTRUCTURE ............................................................................................. 31 2.1. Road transport ........................................................................................... 31 2.2. Rail transport ............................................................................................ 32 2.3. Air transport ............................................................................................. 32 2.4. Maritime and inland waterway transport. 33 ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA iii 3. TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY .................................................. 34 4. ENERGY AND MINES. 36 4.1. Energy. 36 4.2. Mines. 38 5. AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND WATER RESOURCES ...................................................... 40 5.1. Agriculture .............................................................................................. 40 5.2. Environment ............................................................................................. 41 5.3. Water resources .......................................................................................... 42 6. INDUSTRY, AND PROMOTION OF THE PRIVATE AND FINANCIAL SECTORS .................................... 43 6.1. Promoting industrial development ....................................................................... 43 6.2. Promoting investment ................................................................................... 43 6.3. Financing the regional economy. 43 7. SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND GENDER ISSUES ........................................................................ 45 7.1. Health ................................................................................................... 45 7.2. Gender and childhood issues ............................................................................. 45 8. EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE .......................................................................... 47 8.1. Education ................................................................................................ 47 8.2. Science and Technology .................................................................................. 47 8.3. Culture .................................................................................................. 47 8.4. Youth and Sports ......................................................................................... 48 9. POLITICAL AFFAIRS, PEACE AND SECURITY ................................................................... 49 9.1. The Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security ............................................................................... 49 9.2. The Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance ....................................................... 50 10. MACROECONOMIC POLICY AND RESEARCH ................................................................. 52 10.1. Macroeconomic Policy Convergence and Establishment of a Monetary Union and a Single Currency ...... 52 10.2. Specialised agencies in monetary policy and convergence ............................................... 56 10.3. Research and Statistics .................................................................................. 57 IV. ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF ECOWAS POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES ON THE PROGRESS OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN MEMBER STATES. 59 1. GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF ECOWAS SECTORAL POLICIES ...................................................... 60 2. PEACE, SECURITY AND GOVERNANCE ......................................................................... 69 3. FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS ................................................................................ 71 4. INTRA-REGIONAL TRADE. 73 4.1. A relatively low level of intra-regional trade ............................................................... 73 4.2. Contributing factors to low trade levels ................................................................... 77 iv ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA 5. MULTILATERAL SURVEILLANCE ............................................................................... 80 6. ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION ................................................. 81 7. TRANSPORT, ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURES ..................................... 86 8. HUMAN CAPITAL .............................................................................................. 90 9. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 91 V. DISCUSSION OF VARIOUS STAGES OF THE SUB-REGIONAL INTEGRATION PROCESS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO CONTINENTAL INTEGRATION ...................... 92 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTINENTAL INTEGRATION SCHEME ................................................. 93 1.1. Stages of African integration ............................................................................. 93 1.2. Executing a Minimum Integration Programme to Speed up Implementation of Abuja Treaty Objectives .... 93 2. ECOWAS PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING CONTINENTAL INTEGRATION ........................................ 95 2.1. Aligning ECOWAS with the Continental Strategy .......................................................... 95 2.2. Overall Performance of ECOWAS in Implementing the Continental and Regional Integration Scheme ....... 95 3. A TOOL FOR ASSESSING REGIONAL INTEGRATION: THE AFRICA REGIONAL INTEGRATION INDEX OF THE ECA. 97 VI. ECOWAS CHALLENGES AND FUTURE VISION .................................................... 98 1. CRITICAL CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE ECOWAS EVOLUTION SCENARIOS .................................... 99 1.1. Community discipline .................................................................................... 99 1.2. Creating value and ensuring effectiveness in ECOWAS programmes ......................................100 1.3. Coordination between ECOWAS and sub-regional IGOs ..................................................101 1.4. The challenge of Community project ownership by the populations ......................................103 1.5. Integrating ECOWAS into the global continental integration project ......................................103 2. VISION 2020 OF ECOWAS .....................................................................................105 2.1. Vision statement and implementation strategy. 105 2.2. Revising ECOWAS Vision 2020 ...........................................................................105 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................108