The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission and the African Development Bank (AfDB) successfully concluded a series of joint consultation meetings from Tuesday, September 5, to Friday, September 15, 2023, focusing on the mid-term and portfolio performance reviews of the Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP) for West Africa for 2020-2025.
These consultations aimed at assessing the progress and performance of the RISP and discuss the necessary interventions to promote regional integration and development. Various departments were visited during the two-week consultations, including economic affairs and agriculture, human development and social affairs, infrastructure, energy and digitalization, political affairs, peace and security.
The consultations provided a platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas, share experiences, and propose strategies to advance regional integration in West Africa.
During this wrap-up session, the main conclusions, and recommendations of the African Development Bank’s engagement with the ECOWAS Commission were presented. This presentation outlined the next steps to be taken to ensure effective implementation of the RISP and achieve its objectives.
This wrap up session noted the participation of eminent personalities, in particular the President of ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, and the Director General of the African Development Bank, Lamine G. Barrow.
The President of ECOWAS and the Director of the AfDB have jointly decided to continue ongoing development actions, and also to strengthen investment in sectors such as Human Development, access to education, economic infrastructure, health, security etc.
The African Development Bank and ECOWAS are collaborating on several projects, including the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor project, which is a flagship project of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). This road of 1028 km, currently under construction, will connect the cities of Abidjan, Accra, Cotonou, Lagos, and Lomé. With a total population of over 35 million, these cities are considered the largest and, from an economic point of view, the most dynamic in West Africa.
