ECOWAS,sched-lead
West African leaders agree measures to ease travel, trade
by Ola Awoniyi
ATTENTION - ADDS details, background ///
ABUJA, March 28 (AFP) - Leaders of seven west African countries have
agreed
measures aimed at easing travel and trade in the region following a push by
Nigeria to end years of foot-dragging on economic integration.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the presidents of Mali, Niger, Nigeria
and
Togo, and representatives of Benin, Burkina Faso and Ghana, applauded a
weekend agreement by Nigeria and Ghana to set up a second west African
monetary zone and create a free trade area.
At a meeting at the Abuja headquarters of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), the leaders agreed a series of measures aimed at
easing travel in the region including:
-- an early ending of "rigid border formalities" between ECOWAS members
-- instructions to immigration officials to accord ECOWAS citizens the
maximum 90 day period of stay as from April 15
-- limiting personnel at border posts to essential staff such as customs
and immigration
-- the lifting of road blocks and security checkpoints on cross border
roads through the region
- the abolition of the residence permit requirement for ECOWAS citizens
- the adoption of a single ECOWAS passport by their countries.
- the adoption of a multi-country visa for the countries.
The leaders also agreed a series of steps to ease trade in the region,
ordering a meeting of customs officials by April 20 to streamline import
documentation, and pledging a common ECOWAS external tariff policy to come
into effect January 1, 2001.
Opening the meeting Monday, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo said
the
region's main political and economic power was determined to find ways of
"accelerating ... the process of regional economic integration as a means
of
moving the sub-region forward."
"I am delighted to report that the non-CFA zone countries have joined
Ghana
and Nigeria in forging ahead to create the second ECOWAS monetary zone by
the
year 2003," Obasanjo said.
"A programme of action designed to achieve this objective has been
prepared
and a mini-summit of heads of state of the affected countries will soon be
held."
Obasanjo said he was frustrated by years of "slow" progress following
ECOWAS's foundation in 1975 as a body aimed at promoting regional economic
integration.
Since it was set up, ECOWAS has come to international attention
primarily
for its peacekeeping activities - in Liberia and Sierra Leone - but made
little progress on easing trade in the region.
The process has also been dogged by differences between the
English-speaking and French-speaking countries in the bloc.
In their statement, the seven west African leaders also congratulated
Senegal's president-elect Abdoulaye Wade on his election victory last week
and
praised his predecessor, outgoing president Abdou Diouf for accepting
defeat.
They also agreed to order a feasibility study within six months for two
regional rail links.
The study is to be done on a rail line running Lagos-Cotonou-Lome-Accra
and
another line running Lagos-Niamey-Ouagadougou.
Plans have long existed for regional rail links but none have previously
been implemented.
ola-pcj/kc
sidi sanneh
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