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The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration designate, Ms. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, opened a meeting of ECOWAS Foreign Affairs and Justice Ministers to discuss the accession of third (non-member) states to the Treaty of ECOWAS, in Accra.
The Accra meeting will provide the ministers of the Committee of the Five Member States with the platform to deliberate on the findings of the study on the accession of third States to the ECOWAS Treaty.
Following membership requests from Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania, the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, during its 52nd ordinary session held in Abuja, Nigeria on December 16, 2017, was led by the ECOWAS Commission.
They undertook a study which formed a high-level committee, comprising the presidents of Ghana, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Nigeria, to meet the legal and institutional requirements for countries to join. third to the ECOWAS Treaty.
Ms Ayorkor Botchwey said that over the past three days, a multisectoral expert meeting has been held in Accra to discuss the findings of the study, which would be submitted to ministers for comment and, hopefully, approval before to be referred to the Heads of State for a final decision.
“The duty entrusted to us by heads of state is solemn. Indeed, we cannot claim to fulfill this obligation effectively without giving careful thought to the reasons for the growing interest of third countries for our Community.
“We should also be concerned about geopolitical considerations and its underpinnings,” she said.
Ms Ayorkor Botchwey said that the careful observation of the development of ECOWAS, the single market offered by the region and its attractiveness for trade and investment, including the fact that its population is young and increasingly more educated, were certainly some of the reasons for the great interest in the sub-region.
“We must and must seize this opportunity, guided by the principles of complementarity and our common values to take advantage of these interests for the benefit of the citizens of the Community”, she said.
She expressed hope that the Accra meeting would put an end to the unresolved issue of third country accession to the ECOWAS Treaty.
Minister of Justice designate, Mr. Godfred Dame recalled that Morocco had requested to join as a full member of ECOWAS, while Mauritania and Tunisia wished to join as associate member and observer, respectively.
He said Morocco’s candidacy was approved in principle at the ECOWAS Heads of State Summit in June 2017, but the same has been blocked since.
“Indeed, the absence of rules within the revised Treaty of ECOWAS and additional Protocols dealing with the subject of the accession of new countries to the Community, their respective status; that is, full member, associate member or observer, explained the fact that the countries mentioned above have not commented on their requests for different member status ”, he said.
“Our Economic Community lacks legal texts, standards or specific procedures governing the situation, which until then was new to it. It is therefore urgent and urgent to fill the gap. “
Mr. Baba Gana Wakil, Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana, said it was gratifying to note that several countries had shown keen interest in the activities of the sub-region as some of them had expressed various capacities.
These include full members, associate members and observers.
“This is, indeed, an interesting development that should grab our attention and scrutiny,” Wakil said.
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