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Doha, August 09 (QNA) – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) faces a difficult task and choices on Thursday, as the leaders of its member states will hold an extraordinary summit in Abuja to discuss political situation and recent developments in Niger.
Nigeria, current chair of ECOWAS, confirmed that the group did not rule out any option to resolve Niger’s situation and that the decision to intervene militarily had not been taken yet, but indicated that all options are on the table pending on the outcome of the summit.
The country said that sending forces requires consensus within ECOWAS, which will be discussed during the summit where the protocol related to sanctions for countries that violate the laws of the organization will be activated.
ECOWAS had given Niger’s ruling military council until last Sunday evening to reinstate President-elect Mohamed Bazoum, but the demand was ignored.
ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger and sent a delegation to negotiate a “friendly solution”, but the delegation left Niamey without any results made.
Another delegation comprising representatives of ECOWAS, the United Nations (UN) and the African Union was unable to enter Niger yesterday Tuesday, following a letter sent by the military authorities in Niamey stating that the current situation in Niger is “not safe.”
The ECOWAS is an African intergovernmental organization established on May 25, 1975, under the Treaty of Lagos.
Its headquarters is located in Abuja and is currently chaired by the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo.
It includes 15 countries; Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Benin and Burkina Faso. Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Togo and Cape Verde. The total population reaches about 350 million people and has an estimated total area of more than five million square kilometers or 17 percent of the total area of the African continent.
Mauritania was the only Arab member state in ECOWAS, but the country withdrew in 2001.
The official languages of the group are English, French and Portuguese.
The countries’ gross domestic product (GDP) is more than 734 billion dollars, concentrated in the sectors of industry, transport, communications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, trade, monetary, finance as well as social and cultural sectors.
Since its establishment, the ECOWAS aims to achieve economic integration, promote trade exchanges between the countries of the region and enhance their integration in various sectors.
To achieve these objectives, ECOWAS is carrying out strategic programs that would deepen cohesion and eventually remove barriers that hamper full integration in the hope of achieving peace and prosperity for all its nations and peoples by 2050.
ECOWAS consists of multiple structures chief of which are the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS which is the supreme political institution to which big decisions are assigned, then the council of ministers which discharges the function of preparing for summits, in which political debate is held for a variety of decisions on the horizon of its endorsement by the council of presidents, in addition to ECOWAS parliament that practices a legislative authority pertaining to endorsement of texts issued by the executive structures.
The parliament decides ECOWAS’s handling of crises witnessed by one of the member states and sometimes dispatches mediators in times of crises, ECOWAS Economic and Social Council which has a consultative role and the power of providing proposals concerning joint development projects among ECOWAS states, ECOWAS Court of Justice which adjudicates war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during conflicts witnessed by the region, and finally ECOWAS Commission that was created in 2006 and replaced the General Secretariat.
The commission is composed of eight commissioners who carry out ECOWAS’s administrative and steering works and coordinate ECOWAS’s relations with the member states.
ECOWAS members are bound by the Protocol on Non-Aggression signed in 1978 and provided for the potential deployment of a force to disengage warring parties in case of any potential eruption of a conflict between two member states.
ECOWAS leaders also adopted the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peace-Keeping and Security on Dec. 10, 1999, founded to establish an African disengagement force to intervene in times of crises dubbed “ECOMOG Force”. The force intervened in Guinea-Bissau in 1997, then in Sierra Leone in 1998, prior to signing of the relevant protocol. Afterwards, the force intervened in Côte d’Ivoire in 2002.
In 2004, ECOWAS summit decided to transform ECOMOG into a deterrence force within the framework of the formation of African Union’s intervention and deterrence force tasked with the mission of intervention to safeguard security and stability in any African country grappling with armed turmoil.
Notwithstanding its tremendous ambition to achieve economic integration among West African states, the political and security turmoil, the fragile economic structures of the member states, along with the persistent drought waves hampered the development track of the region’s countries which are rich in primary materials and energy sources.
(QNA)
