Category: West Africa
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ECOWAS adopts Eco as single currency for sub-region
Beginning in January 2020, countries within the West African sub-region will be able to use a single currency called ECO. The currency was adopted by the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Saturday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja. The West African leaders endorsed the currency at their 55th Ordinary Session and approved a…
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ECOWAS partners EU on combating piracy and maritime criminality
The Commission of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has developed measures to intensify effort towards combating piracy and other maritime criminality with the support of development partners. A statement from the Commission said development partners such as the European Union (EU), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the governments…
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Ecowas set to adopt common measuring instruments to harmonise standards
Plans to harmonize standards of measurement of products manufactured and consumed within the West African region have seen some progress. This follows the drafting of a document for the calibration and verification of measuring instruments. Countries within the ECOWAS region that agree to sign the document will be expected to use the same instruments recognized…
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Be more vigilant to protect government’s revenue – Mining Stakeholders
Two former Chief Executive Officers of the Minerals Commission have warned that successive governments will continue to lose revenue from the mining sector if the appointment of directors to boards of mining companies continues to be politicized. The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in May last year strongly indicated that government will not accept the…
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World Bank provides over $200m to help increase access to electricity in W/A
The Board of the World Bank Group approved on April 17, 2019 the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP), which includes $150 million in the form of credit and grant from the International Development Association (IDA) and $74.7 million contingent recovery grant from the Clean Technology Fund to help the West African Development Bank and ECOWAS’…
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We-Fi calls for Public, Private Sector support for women entrepreneurs
Heads of state, ministers, leaders of multilateral development banks, private sector executives, women entrepreneurs, and contributing governments of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) convened at the first We-Fi Regional Summit to discuss concrete ways to strengthen support for women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in West Africa. Attended by more than 400 public and…
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Ivory Coast destroys ‘dangerous’ rice rejected by Ghana
About 18,000 tonnes of rice declared unfit for consumption has been destroyed by authorities in West African Country, Ivory Coast. BBC reports that the said rice from Myanmar (also known as Burma) had been rejected by countries including Ghana. “The shipment of rice, from Myanmar (also known as Burma), had been refused entry at several West African…
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GRA to confiscate ECOWAS vehicles for exceeding 90 day entry period
The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) has stated that it will start confiscating vehicles from the ECOWAS region that stay in the country for more than 90 days without legal permission. This the Customs Division says it will do through the full implementation of Article 5 of the ECOWAS Protocol on the Free…
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Sub-Saharan economic growth recovery to take longer – World Bank
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The World Bank has cut its growth forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa this year to 2.8 percent from an initial 3.3 percent, it said on Monday. The commodity price slump of 2015 cut short a decade of rapid growth for the region, and the bank said growth would take longer to recover as a decline in…
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Standardization issues affecting Continental Free Trade Area –Carlos Ahenkorah
Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry Carlos Ahenkorah has cautioned that the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area(ACFTA) could be derailed if the issue of standardization of goods and services are not addressed in all countries. Ghana’s parliament in April 2018 gave its backing to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, seeking to…