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ECOWAS

COMMISSION

COMMISSION

DE LA CEDEAO

MACROECONOMIC POLICY DEPARTMENT

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME UNIT

Original : French

=========================================================================

ECOWAS COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

(CDP) =========================================================================

DRAFT 0

(This version 1st December, 2012)

Work Document Please do not to quote

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DETAILED PLAN

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ECOWAS COMMISSION .............................. 10 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER I : DIAGNOSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA .................................................................................................................. 17 1.1 An international environment with both uncertainties and opportunities. ................ 17 1.2 Regional Development Background .......................................................................... 19

1.2.1 Political and Security Situation in West Africa: Regional Political Instability heightened by Recurrent Conflicts .................................................................................... 19 1.2.2 Human Development and Social Progress ......................................................... 20 1.2.3 Economic and Financial Situation ...................................................................... 27 1.2.4 Sectoral Performance ......................................................................................... 37

1.3 Regional Integration and Development Stakeholders ............................................... 46 1.3.1 Member States .................................................................................................... 46 1.3.2 Inter-Governemental Organizations (IGOs) : A Complex Institutional Landscape ......................................................................................................................... 48 1.3.3 Non-State Actors (NSAs) : A Duty to factor in the Aspirations of the People 50 1.3.4 Development Partners ........................................................................................ 52

1.4 Issues and Challenges ................................................................................................ 55 1.4.1 Challenge of Governance ................................................................................... 55 1.4.2 Weakness of Intra-Regional Trade ..................................................................... 58 1.4.3 Challenge of Competitiveness ............................................................................ 58 1.4.4 Poor Coherence of Policies and Programmes .................................................... 59 1.4.5 Challenge of Long Term Planning ..................................................................... 60

CHAPTER II : COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME: STRATEGIC GUIDELINES .......................................................................................................................... 62 2.1 Regional Integration and Development Initiatives .................................................... 62

2.1.1 At the Regional Level ........................................................................................ 63 2.1.2 At the National Level ......................................................................................... 74

2.2 Objectives and Processes for the Formulation of the CDP ....................................... 89 2.2.1 Objectives of the CDP ........................................................................................ 89 2.2.2 Approach and Formulation Process ................................................................... 89

2.3 Priority Areas and Strategic Axes of the CDP ......................................................... 93 2.4 Logical Framework of the CDP ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5 Convergence and Consistency of the Main Regional Initiatives ..... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER III : EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PRIORITY AREAS ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Background and Justification .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Methodological Approach ......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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3.2.1 Comparative Advantage of Model T 21 vis-à-vis the other Existing Models Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2.2 General Structure of Model T21 ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2.3 Model T21 of ECOWAS (T21-CDP-A) ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.3 Simulations and Empirical Analyses ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.1 Underlying Scenario: Comparison of the Outcomes of the Model with the Historical Data .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.2 Challenges linked to the Underlying Scenario (BAU) for the Development of the Region over the period 2010 – 2030 ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.3 Assumptions of the Regional Integration (RI) and Family Planning (FP) Scenarios ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.4 Comparison of the Scenarios and Justification of the Priority Areas of the CDP Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.4.1 Comparison of the BAU, RI, FP and RI&FP Scenarios ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4.2 Justification of the Priority Areas of the CDP .... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER IV : INVENTORY AND PRIORITIZATION OF PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS ............................................................................................................................. 151 4.1. Existing Programmes and Projects in West Africa ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.1. Analysis of Existing Projects per Member State, IGO and NSA ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1.2. Analysis of Existing Projects per Strategic Axis Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1.3. Analysis of Existing Projects per Priority Area . Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2. Prioritization of Existing Projects .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1. Justification of the Prioritization ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.2. Criteria for the Prioritization of the Projects of the IGOs and Member States Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.3. Programmes and Projects retained for the CDP ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.4. Analysis of Projects selected for the CDP ................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.4.1. Analysis of Selected Projects per Actor, Strategic Axis and Priority Area ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.4.2. Handling of Project Costs .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER V : MECHANISM FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CDP ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1 Programming and Timeframe of the CDP ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.1.1 Programming of the CDP ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1.2 Timeframe of the Programmes and Projects of the CDP .. Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.2 Organizational Framework ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.3 Implementation Framework ...................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.4 Monitoring&Evaluation Mechanism ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.4.1 Monitoring .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.4.2 Evaluation ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.5 Financing Strategy ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.5.1 Sources of Financing .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.5.2 Resource Mobilisation Strategy ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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5.5.3 Risks ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. GENERAL CONCLUSION .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ................................................................................. 187 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................. 193 Annex 1 : ................................................................................................................................ 193 Annex 2 : Logical Framework of the CDP ............................................................................ 194

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 01 : Key Comparative Indicators of the ECOWAS Agricultural Sectors ...................... 43 Table 02 : Distribution of IGOs depending on the Area of Intervention ............................... 48 Table 03 : Number of Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs) belonging to Countries ..... 49 Table 04: Partners of the ECOWAS Region per Area of Assistance and Type of Assistance – 2007-2012 ................................................................................................................................. 53 Table 05 : Acerage Electricity Tariff for some Countries or Regions of the World ................ 58 Table 06 : Cost of Transport in some Countries or Regions of the World .............................. 59 Table 07 : Status of Protocols and Conventions in force as at 15 August, 2011 ..................... 64 Table 08: Protocols and Conventions ratified by Member States ............................................ 64 Table 09 : Summary of the Visions and Strategies of the ECOWAS Countries ..................... 88 Table 10 : Priority Areas, Strategic Axes and Priority Actions of the CDP ............................ 97 Table 11: Comparison of the BAU,RI, FP and RI&FP Scenarios for 2010, 2020 and 2030 .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 12 : Distribution of Projects per Member State ............. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 13 : Distribution of Projects per IGO and Specialized Institution Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 14 : Distribution of Projects of ECOWAS as well as Specialized Agencies and Institutions ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 15 : Distribution of Projects within the ECOWAS Commission .. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 16: Criteria and Indicators for the Prioritization of Programmes and Projects ....... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 17: Criteria and Indicators retained for the Classification of National CDP Projects in order of priority ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 18: Distribution of Prioritized Projects and their Costs per Priority Area .............. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 19 : Type of Financing per Financial Institution ............ Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 20: Score of Some Governance Indicators of the ECOWAS Countries in comparison with Some Countries outside the Region. .............................................................................. 193 Table 21 : Logical Framework of the Community Development Programme (CDP) .......... 195 Table 22: List of Potential Donors and Partners in accordance with the Four (4) Priority Areas of the CDP .............................................................................................................................. 205

LISTS OF GRAPHS

Graph 01 : Infant Mortality Rate of ECOWAS Countries in 2000 and 2008 .......................... 23 Graph 02 : Rate of Improvement of the Girl-Boy Enrolment Ratio ........................................ 25 Graph 03 : Net Primary School-Going Rate for ECOWAS Countries in 2000 and 2009 ....... 25 Graph 04 : Literacy Rate of Men and Women for ECOWAS Countries, 2009 ...................... 26 Graph 05 : Trend of Real GDP within ECOWAS and Africa over the Period 2001 - 2011 .... 27 Graph 06: Trend of the Real GDP Growth Rate of ECOWAS Member Countries from 2001 to 2011 .......................................................................................................................................... 29 Graph 07: Trend of the Current Balance of ECOWAS Member Countries from 2008 to 2011 as a percentage of GDP. ........................................................................................................... 30 

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Graph 08 : Distribution of ECOWAS Countries depending on Financial Deepening Ratio, 2011 (M2/as a % of GDP) ........................................................................................................ 34 Graph 09: Score of the Effectiveness of Governance of ECOWAS Countries in comparison with Some Countries outside the ECOWAS Region. .............................................................. 55 Graph 10 : Average Variation of the Good Governance Index (2000 – 2010) and Average Annual Growth Rate (2001 – 2009) for ECOWAS Countries ................................................. 57 Graph 11 : West African Component of the PIDA .................................................................. 73 Graph 12 : Short and Medium Term Planning Instrument ....................................................... 74 Graph 13 : Inclusive Approach and Participation .................................................................... 89 Graph 14 : Vision, Priority Areas and Strategic Axes of the CDP .......................................... 93 Graph 15 : Overall Consistency Diagram of the Priority Areas ............................................ 101 Graph 16: Concise Strategy Comparison Daigram . ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Graphique 17: Illustration of Sectorial Interactions: Economic, Social and Environmental .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graphique 18: Detailed View : Interactions between the Spheres of the « Economic » Sector with the Other Sectors – Social and Environmental ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 19: Detailed View : Interactions between the « Economic » and « Social » Sub-Sectors .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 20: Detailed View : Interactions between the « Economic », « Social » and « Environmental » Sub-Systems .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 21: Cause-Effect Diagram of the Regional Integration Pillars and their Consequences .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 22: Overview of Model T21 of ECOWAS .................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 23: The Industrial Sector of Model T21 of ECOWAS .. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 24: Comparison of the Model with the Historical Data [1990 – 2030] .................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 25 : Agricultural Production .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 26: Production of Services ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 27 : Real GDP (Market Price – constant dollar, 2001) . Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 28: Trend of the Total Population [1990- 2030] ........... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 29 : Fertility Rate........................................................................................................ Graph 30: Population Pyramid, 1990 Graph 31: Population Pyramid , 2008 ...................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 32: Gross Enrolment Rate ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 33: Literacy Rate ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 34 : Forest Zone ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 35 : Agricultural Lands ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 36 : Cereal Yields .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 37: Cereal Yields…………………………………………………………………….. Graph 38: Oil Production…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 

Graph 39: Loss in Electricity Transmission…………………………………………………………………………………………

Graph 40 : Comparison of Real per Capita GDP for the BAU, RI, FP and FP&RI Scenarios .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 41: Comparison of Budget Receipts between the BAU and RI Underlying Scenarios .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 42: Comparison of the Population Pyramid between the BAU and RI&FP .......... Error! Bookmark not defined. 

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Graph 43: Priority Areas, Strategic Axes and Indicators ......... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 44 : Distribution of Projects per Main Development Actor ......... Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 45 : Distribution of Projects per Strategic Axis ............ Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 46 : Distribution of Projects per Priority Area .............. Error! Bookmark not defined. Graph 47 : Trend of the Rate of Savings within the ECOWAS Region and South East Asia from 1960 to 2020 .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 

 LISTS OF BOXES

Box 01 : Consistency of Regional Integration Initiatives ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. Box 02 : Construction of a Composite Index for the Classification of Eligible National Projects ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Box 3 : Cost of the CDP: Assesment of the Financial Needs of the ECOWAS Region ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 

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ABREVIATIONS – ACRONYMS WABA : West African Bankers’ AssociationABN : Niger Basin Authority ACBF : Africa Capacity Building Foundation CIDA : Canadian International Development AgencyACMAD : African Centre of Meteorological Applications to Development ACP : Africa – Caribbeans – Pacific countries ACPC African Centre on Climate PolicyACPN : NEPAD Coordination and Planning Agency AFAO : Network of West African Women’s Associations AFD : Agence française de DéveloppementAFRISTAT: Economic and Statistical Observatory in Sub-Saharan Africa GATS: General Agreement on the Trade in Services AGRHYMET AGRHYMET Regional CentreAICD: Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic ALG: Liptako Gourma Authority WAMA West African Monetary AgencyNSAs: Non-State Actors WARA: West African Research Association EPA Economic Partnership AgreementASECNA Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar ADB: African Development Bank BADEA: Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa BAU: Business As Usual BCEAO: Central Bank of West African States IDB: Islamic Development Bank EBID: ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development BOAD: West African Development Bank BRVM: Regional Stock Exchange EGDC: ECOWAS Gender Development Centre CCGTEC: Joint ECOWAS-UEMOA Committee for the Management of the Common External Tariff RCC: Regional Consultative Committee CCRE: Water Resource Coordination Centre CDJS : Youth and Sports Development Centre CDPA : ECOWAS CDP T21 Aggregate Model ECA : Economic Commission for Africa (United Nations) ECOWAS : Economic Community of West African States REC : Regional Economic Community CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research IDRC: International Development Research Centre CILSS: Permanent Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel NCCs: National Coordination Committees CDP-NCs : CDP -National Committees NEPCs : National Economic Policy Committees WECARD West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development IDRC International Development Research Centre CRES : Consortium for Economic and Social Research PRSP: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper ITC: Internal Technical Committee AUC: African Union Commission DANIDA: Danish Agency for International Development DENARP: traduction en portugais du Poverty Reduction Strategy Document [Portuguese translation of acronym] DFID: Department for International Development of Great Britain PA: Priority Area GPRSD: Growth and Poverty Reduction Document PRSD: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper RPRSD: Regional Poverty Reduction Strategy Document ECOPOST: ECOWAS Regional Policy on Science and Technology

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ECOSTAT: ECOWAS Economic Database ECOWAP: ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy ECOWAS: Economic Community of West African States ECREEE: ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EEEAO: Specialised Organ for the Exchange of Electrical Energy in West Africa EIA: US Energy Information Administration EIB European Investment Bank ERERA: ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority EU: European Union ESF: ECOWAS Stand-by Force ADF: African Development Fund FAIAO: Federation of West African Industrial Associations FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation EDF: European Development Fund FEFA: Federation of Women Entrepreneurs and Business of ECOWAS WEF World Environment Fund FEPAWAS Association of Agencies for Investment Promotion in West African States FEWACCI: Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry FGEF French Global Environmental Facility IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development IMF: International Monetary Fund FWAEA: Federation of West African Employers’ Associations WACSOF Federation of West African Civil Society Organizations ASF: African Solidarity Fund RBM : Results-Based Management GIABA : Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa GTZ: German Technical Cooperation MGP Main Guidelines of the Plan DRBM: Development Results-Based Management TWRM: Transboundary Water Resource Management HCR High Commission for Refugees IDB Inter-American Development Bank HDI: Human Development Index GDI : Gender Development Index IFPRI: International Food Programme WAMI: West African Monetary Institute INSAH: Sahel Institute DRI Development Research Institute IDA: International Development Association APRM African Peer Review Mechanism SAM: Social Accounting Matrix EM: Econometric Models CGEM: Computable General Equilibrium Model MI: Millennium Institute MNLA: National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad MTEF : Medium Term Expenditure Framework NCM: Nigerian Capital Market NEEDS National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy of Nigeria NEPAD: New Partnership for Africa’s Development NIP: NV20 : 2020 Strategy Implementation Plan, Nigeria NRS: National Recovery Strategy OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development IGOs : Inter-Governmental Organisations WTO World Trade Organisation MDGs: Millennium Development Goals OMVG: Organisation for the Development of the Gambia River OMVS: Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River UN: United Nations WAHO : West African Health Organization

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CSO : Civil Society Organisation OAU: Organization of African Unity PAEC: ECOWAS Platform of Export Stakeholders PAGE: Programme for the Acceleration of Growth and Employment WFP: World Food Programme PAP: Priority Action Plan PAPED: EPA Development Programme EARP : Economic Adjustment and Recovery Programme CDP : Community Development Programme PDH : Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy PER : UEMOA Regional Economic Programme FP: Family Planning GDP: Gross Domestic Product PICAO: West African Common Industrial Policy PIDA: Programme for Infrastructural Development in Africa PIP: Region-wide Development Programmes NDP: National Development Plan UNDP: United Nations Development Programme POOL FUND: Group of ECOWAS Financial Partners PPDU: Project Preparation and Development Unit of ECOWAS HIPC: Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative PRSP: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper FETP: Financial Economic and Technical Partner TFP: Technical and Financial Partner RECTAS: Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys ERNWCA: Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa ROPPA: Network of West African Agricultural Farmer and Producer Organisations RROA: West African Research Network RRPSAOC: Social Policy Research Network for West and Central Africa SCADD: Accelerated Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy PRGS: Poverty Reduction Growth Strategy SDH: Synchronous Digital Hierarchy IFC: International Finance Corporation GSP Generalised System of Preferences ETLS: ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme NDS: National Development Strategy GER Gross Enrolment Rate CET Common External Tariff ICT Information and Communications Technology EBA Everything But Arms T21 « Threshold 21 » Model AU African Union EU European Union UEMOA West African Economic and Monetary UnionMRU: Mano River Union UMOA West African Monetary Union UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organisation WATU West African Tourism Union USAID: United States Agency for International Development WABA: West African Bankers’ Association WAMA West African Monetary Agency WAMI West African Monetary Institute WAPP West African Power Pool WDI: World Development Indicator WAMZ West African Monetary Zone

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MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ECOWAS COMMISSION In Article 2 of its revised treaty of 1993, ECOWAS was urged to ultimately become the only reference Economic Community for the purposes of economic integration in West Africa. Tasked with this fundamental mission, our Institution has recorded significant strides in building the Economic and Monetary Union and in promoting a peaceful and secure environment, thirty-eight years after its establishment. However, in spite of the notable progress made, the challenge of the deepening of regional integration as well as the economic and social development of our region persists, in much the same way as our capacity to maintain and to consolidate a stable political and security environment. Thus, mindful of the need to speed up the integration process as well as economic and social expansion of our region, the Authority of Heads of State adopted Vision 2020 at its June 2007 session held in Abuja (Nigeria).Among others, it aimed at establishing the « ECOWAS of Peoples » and a community in which the people live in dignity, peace and good governance as well as pursuing the successful integration of the community into the global village. In order to implement the Vision 2020 of ECOWAS, the Authority tasked the Commission to give concrete expression to « the formulation of the Community Development Programme (CDP) » in particular. It is within this context that one can situate the formulation of ECOWAS/CDP which, you can obviously observe, supports the priorities I have clearly indicated in my address to the Forty-First Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government held in June, 2012 in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, viz : i) to consolidate peace, security, democracy and respect for human rights ; ii) speed up the pace of regional integration in all areas of economic and social life; iii) promote economic prosperity by creating a viable and attractive regional environment for investment and personal initiative, and finally iv) to forge relations and mutually beneficial partnerships with all the other regions of Africa and the world in order to face the challenges posed by globalisation. By initiating this programme, our Community intends to provide itself with a major instrument to deepen regional integration and to give more substance to its foundation as an Economic Community. Beyond this ambition, the programme has introduced an innovative mechanism of consultation, involvement and ownership for all the stakeholders of the regional integration process. For the Member States, therefore, it provides a better visibility for all the regional programmes in order for them to be factored into their Reference Strategy Documents and ensures advocacy for the financing of their national development initiatives. With regard to the region’s sister inter-governmental organisations, the CDP is pursuing the objective of putting together a reference framework and a platform which centralises the region’s priorities under a medium and long term programming framework.

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For the non-State actors, since they are already partners involved in the effective management of major projects in their action plans, they will also be involved in the monitoring-evaluation mechanisms. Finally, I cannot complete this list of actors without mentioning the development partners who never stopped supporting our initiatives. To this end, the CDP will serve as a reference framework which will enable them to ensure a better coordination of their financial and technical assistance to the countries and the integration process in a manner as to optimise efficiency.

The regional CDP document I have the pleasure to share with all the integration stakeholders falls within the context of a continental and global framework. In this regard, just like the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), it is also in line with the overall objectives of NEPAD and the strategies implemented to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It makes a thorough diagnosis of the development and regional integration of West Africa since the attainment of independence. On the basis of the on-going initiatives as well as the priority areas selected for our Region, the document proposes the guidelines and strategies which justify the CDP. It makes an inventory and unprecedented analysis of the main projects and programmes formulated and/or implemented in the region and recommends the prioritisation of existing programmes and projects in West Africa which are to be implemented as part of the CDP. After reading this detailed presentation, I urge the highest authorities, decision-making bodies, heads of the institutions of our community, heads of inter-governmental organisations, Member States as well as all regional development stakeholders and our technical and financial partners to support the implementation of the CDP. With the finalisation of this CDP regional document, I am particularly pleased to congratulate all stakeholders in the ECOWAS programme, the IGOs of our Region and our Member States. I also wish to express the gratitude of the Commission to the Pool Fund partners, the European Union and GIZ which were quick to subscribe to this programme through financial and technical assistance. Finally, and on behalf of the institutions of the Community, permit me to express my profound gratitude to our Heads of State and Government and the members of the Council of Ministers for their great vision and ambition, without which this programme would not have been initiated.

X

H.E. KADRE DESIRE OUEDRAOGO President of the ECOWAS Commission

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INTRODUCTION

In the heat of the attainment of independence in the sixties, African states initiated ambitious

development strategies and, at the same time, undertook actions to promote political and

economic integration of African nations at various levels and to work towards the political

independence of countries still under colonisation. The desire for stronger integration and

unity was quickly endorsed by illustrious African leaders who made their mark with the first

move towards the integration of the African continent – the Charter of the Organisation of

African Unity which was signed on 25 May, 1963 in Addis-Ababa.

The initiatives towards the deepening of integration and economic and social development

were particularly pursued and accelerated through the adoption of the Lagos Plan in 1980, the

Abuja Treaty in 1992 and NEPAD in 1992 as well as the establishment of the African Union

after the conversion of the Organization of African Unity.

This commitment was justified at the time, and it indeed continues to be justified, by the

shared conviction that it would be difficult to achieve and promote socio-economic

development as well political and international leadership with fragmented micro-States in the

context of a world already dominated by big political and economic poles.

In 1975, the desire for integration at the continental level was reduced to the regional level to

ensure more effectiveness with the adoption of the founding ECOWAS Treaty.

Article 2 of the revised ECOWAS Treaty of July, 1993 states that ECOWAS « shall ultimately be the sole Economic Community in the region for the purpose of economic integration and the realisation of the objectives of the African Economic Community ».

Thirty-eight years after its establishment, ECOWAS has made significant progress in various

areas of regional integration.

With regard to the area of peace and security, the various interventions of ECOWAS,

particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone, more recently in Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Niger and

Guinea, and currently in Guinea-Bissau and Mali, have strongly contributed to the

establishment of the credibility of ECOWAS.

Concerning the common market, the attainment of the four freedoms – the movement of

goods, capital, services and persons – also represents a notable progress with the adoption of

the ECOWAS CET in 2008. Although delays were observed in its implementation, the

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facilitation of the movement of goods and persons has become a reality in West Africa. With

regard to the economic and monetary community, emphasis should be laid on the efforts

towards the harmonization of macro-economic policies, the adoption and implementation of

the common agricultural policy, the common regional response which is currently being

formulated as part of the EPAs with the European Union and efforts made towards the

strengthening of infrastructure in the road, railway, energy and telecommunications sectors.

However, in spite of this notable progress, the region must face up to the high incidence of

poverty and the persistent constraints in the path of the actualization of the economic

community.

A New Vision to stand up to the Region’s Challenges: Vision 2020 of ECOWAS

In this regard, the Conference of Heads of State and Government carried out important

institutional reforms in 2006 by particularly converting the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat

into a Commission. It continued along this path of deepening the integration process by

adopting Vision 2020 in Abuja (Nigeria) stated as follows: « The Strategic Vision of

ECOWAS aims at transforming the West African sub-region into a borderless region where

citizens can create and benefit from business opportunities for sustainable production by

exploiting the enormous resources of West Africa. »

To this effect, the Vision is pursuing the following objectives with the 2020 target in

mind:

i) Convert ECOWAS from an « ECOWAS of States » to an « ECOWAS of Peoples » in

which the people will be involved in the regional integration process so that they can own

it, will be at the centre of regional policy concerns and will be the ultimate beneficiaries;

ii) Create a space in which the people live in dignity and peace within the framework of the

rule of law and good governance;

iii) Make the West African region a borderless one, and

iv) Establish a region which is properly integrated into the global village and taking full

advantage of globalisation.

To attain these objectives, the Authority tasked the Commission to give concrete expression

in the short term to « the improvement of trade negotiating capacity, consolidation of peace

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and democracy, development of infrastructure, poverty reduction, implementation of the

Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), formulation of the Community Development

Programme and the finalisation and operationalisation of short term strategic plan of action. »

Thus, the ECOWAS Commission initiated the formulation of the CDP in 2010 to set forth the

region’s medium and long term development agenda through the definition of a compact of

priority projects and programmes to be implemented as part of an innovative approach and

process.

A Process of Consistent, Participatory and Inclusive Formulation:

It was developed with all the stakeholders both as part of consistent programmes of

ECOWAS and development programmes managed by other institutions of the Region,

including the Regional Economic Programme (PER) of UEMOA in particular.

Six imperative governing principles for a regional initiative structured around experience,

collegiality, complementarity, solidarity and consistency were retained.

Stages of formulation shared and owned by the stakeholders concerned

The modalities for the formulation of the CDP were subjected to intense consultations with

the key stakeholders in the process. These discussions ensured that a four-pronged

formulation process was validated by the Region: i) Sensitisation and capacity strengthening;

ii) Inventory of existing programmes and financing at the national and regional levels; iii)

Prioritisation, planning and impact measurement, and iv) Round table sessions with financial

backers.

A programme formulated with the region’s stakeholders

The various development actors of the region were seriously involved in the CDP formulation

process. These are the Member States, civil society organisations (CSOs), the private sector

and the research sector.

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Since it is based on the foundation of Vision 2020, this CDP document constitutes the first

outcome of a consistent, participatory and inclusive approach launched in 2010.

The first proposed version is a concrete response to the numerous challenges faced by the

region. Although it comes under an ECOWAS initiative, the programme aims at presenting a

consistent and standard position on the development initiatives considered to be a priority for

the region.

It is in step and consistent with the major regional development and integration initiatives

such as the PER of UEMOA, the EPADP, the regional PRSD, ECOWAP as well as with

programmes of action of NEPAD and the African Union.

The document is structured around five main areas. The first chapter focuses on the diagnosis

of integration and regional integration. It develops an analysis of the region’s political,

economic and social situation within the framework of the international environment. This

initial examination is followed by an analytical review of the national and regional

development initiatives as well as the region’s development issues and challenges. The

chapter ends with an analysis of the role of the various actors involved in the development

and integration of the region.

The second chapter states the objectives and expected outcomes of the CDP, the programme

formulation process as well as the strategic framework put in place to achieve those

objectives. It also tackles the issues of consistency and convergence which must be taken into

account to ensure the effectiveness and success of the interventions in the region.

Through the use of an instrument for stimulation and projection in dynamic systems called

T21, the third chapter deals with empirical aspects of the CDP. It dwells particularly on the

justification of the CDP as a programme initiated to reverse the trends which still present

challenges for the region and to confirm the priority areas to be considered in this regard.

The fourth chapter is the main part of the document. It presents and analyses the list of

priority projects and programmes to be implemented in order to enable the region to attain the

objectives under Vision 2020 and to significantly reduce the challenges faced in the quest for

its development and deepened integration.

The fifth and last chapter develops the operational strategies to be put in place in order to

ensure the successful implementation of the programme. Thus, it is structured around the

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programming of the CDP, the management of the organisational and legal framework as well

as the resource mobilization strategy.

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CHAPTER I : DIAGNOSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA The adoption of Vision 2020 and the CDP is a response to the trends brought to the fore by

the diagnosis of the development and integration of the region. This diagnosis is structured

around the analysis of the changes in the international environment, the socio-economic and

political profile of the region, the analytical review of the various development initiatives

implemented or the formulation of which is on-going as well as the role of actors involved in

the region.

1.1 An International Environment with both Uncertainties and Opportunities.

West Africa is evolving in an international environment which is undergoing rapid and

profound changes.

The multifaceted crises which shook the world over the last few years and affected the

financial, economic and social spheres were seriously felt by West African countries. The

recurrent speculations on food prices, for example, brought about unsustainable increases in

the prices of basic foodstuffs which are generally imported, thereby causing serious food and

nutritional problems which led to violence and so-called « hunger strikes » in certain

countries.

One of the main challenges the international situation poses to West Africa is also linked to

the on-going changes in the area of development cooperation, given the guidelines adopted by

the international community to strengthen the effectiveness of aid through the harmonisation

of the rules and practices and the alignment of the interventions of the financial backers with

the priorities and needs of beneficiary countries.

The ECOWAS region is also torn between several international levels of commitment.

In the area of international trade, the development of the on-going negotiations to set forth

multilateral, bilateral or regional trade rules is one of the main challenges faced by West

Africa. Indeed, the countries of the region have individually or collectively embarked upon a

range of negotiation processes in which they made restrictive legal commitments which could

cause problems of consistency likely to be detrimental to the development of the region.

At the multilateral level, West African countries embarked upon the Doha Round of

negotiations launched since 2001 and which aims at further opening up the world markets

through an increased liberalisation of trade in goods and services. The main issues relating to

19 

 

development, the resolution of which would have a positive impact on many countries in the

region, have remained at a standstill and hemmed in by the strategies and interest games of

the trading powers. For example, this is the case for cotton, access to the market without

duties or quotas for LDCs and special and differential treatment in favour of developing

countries, among other issues.

At the bilateral and regional levels, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which has

been the subject of negotiation between West Africa and the European Union since 2003, is

the main challenge faced by the region. This agreement aims at replacing the non-reciprocal

trade preferences given to the ACP countries by the EU under the successive Lomé

conventions with a reciprocal agreement which is compatible with the WTO rules.

The lack of a final agreement on the Regional EPA to this day has led to the coexistence of

various trade regimes: Everything But Arms Initiative (EBA) for 12 LDCs, Interim EPAs for

Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for Nigeria and a

transitional regime towards the GSP for Cape Verde.

There is, therefore, the need to find a solution to the problem posed by the regulations of the

European Council on the ratification of the Interim EPAs by Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which

has fixed the deadline for 1st January, 2014, in order to protect the regional integration

process.

At the same time that it was dealing with these international arrangements, West Africa is also

increasingly involved in the diversification of its economic partners by establishing

agreements with emerging countries as part of South-South cooperation. Be it China, India,

Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and others, West Africa

seems to have opted for the strengthening of its economic relations with them as part of a

strategy to diversify trading partners.

International negotiations on the environment and overall measures relating to climate change

are also among the issues affecting West African countries. The increasing importance of

environmental exigencies and the connection between environmental and commercial issues

could impact positively or negatively on the economic development of West Africa as a result

of their effects on both the methods of production and regional and international products and

markets. Thus the on-going transition to the green economy is a decisive issue to be factored

into the development choices and guidelines by West Africa in the years to come.

20 

 

Thus, the development bases of West Africa remain fragile, with quite a considerable level of

economic and financial dependence and marginalisation regarding the major development

issues, particularly trade negotiations. This situation is partly linked to the socio-economic

and regional political context which is characterized by limited performance and persistent

uncertainties.

1.2 Regional Development Context

The analysis of the regional development context is structured around the examination of the

political and socio-economic profile of the West African region.

1.2.1 Political and Security Situation of West Africa: Regional Political Instability heightened by Recurrent Conflicts

The political and institutional trajectory of West African States has witnessed a chequered

development. The current democratic experiences are taking place in a particularly halting

context which makes their benefits less sustainable. Countries of the region continue to show

numerous signs of persistent political instability.

Over the last three decades, West Africa recorded long and bloody conflicts: Liberia, Sierra

Leone, Guinea Bissau and Cote d’Ivoire, among others. Apart from Guinea Bissau, the three

other countries appear to have chalked reasonable success in closing the chapter of the

devastating conflicts they went through by embarking upon an encouraging path of

development after organising regular elections.

After a few upheavals linked to the transfer of power from military regimes to civilian

regimes, Niger and Guinea witnessed a relatively calm transition, even though the benefits

remain very fragile, particularly in the case of Guinea. After nearly two decades of a very

worthy journey, Mali slumped into a serious and complex political instability in 2012 through

a combination of challenges, including the control of central power between civilians and the

military and the partition of the country, particularly with the occupation of the North of Mali

by the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) and politico-religious

groups.

This crisis in the North of Mali is a new challenge for the whole of West Africa. Having

planted its roots in the heart of the Sahel, that is in the confluence of several sociopolitical

21 

 

regions, this conflict could be the source of intense regional instability due to the size of the

terrorist networks and threats at stake.

However, all these challenges and uncertainties only show one side of the regional political

reality. In effect, in spite of these constraints, West Africa has chalked some democratic

successes which can serve as a beacon for the consolidation of a logical framework for the

institutionalisation of political power in the region. The progress observed was facilitated by a

regional and international context which is becoming increasingly hostile to the takeover of

power through unconstitutional means.

In the area of conflict prevention, the region also made significant progress, with the

introduction of a new mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution, the

consolidation of peace and security, including protocols on democracy and governance. This

mechanism includes an early warning system as well as a system for the deployment and

support of peacekeeping operations1.

These political developments, seen from the « war versus peace » or the « instability versus

stability » perspectives, obviously have a negative or positive effect on the economic

performance and the human development social indicators of the countries of the region.

1.2.2 Human Development and Social Progress

More than anywhere else in the world, West Africa’s social situation allows for a verification

of the assertion that economic growth is not a sufficient condition for the improvement of the

living conditions of the people. In effect, in spite of the growth of the region, poverty has

continued to be widespread, thereby leading to the deterioration of the health, educational and

employment situation, etc.

Multifaceted Rural Poverty and Poverty among Women

West Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. Out of a population of about 300

million people, nearly 60% live below the poverty line, that is on less than a dollar a day, as

against 46% for the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.2. However, the seriousness and severity of

poverty varies from country to country, depending on the availability of resources and the

political and security or agro-ecological situation. The people of countries in conflict or in a

                                                            1 Regional RPRSD, 2006 2 Regional RPRSD Data, 2006

22 

 

post-conflict situation are more exposed to poverty and vulnerability, for example. They are

followed by those living in the other countries of the South plagued by the harmful effects

climate change, particularly drought which regularly comes with serious food and nutritional

crises.

Poverty in West Africa is basically a rural phenomenon, with nearly three-fourths of poor

people concentrated in the countryside. It mainly affects women and children. However, its

social and geographical distribution has been gradually taking another shape over the last few

years, particularly with the appearance of urban poverty whose growth is keeping pace with

the trend of the movement of the people from the villages to the cities. This rural exodus

phenomenon, which is prevalent in all the countries of the region, has not only led to the

development of a disorderly and unplanned urbanisation, with its attendant inconvenience

particularly in the area of access to basic social services, but also deeply established poverty

in the urban areas. The result is that nearly all West African cities are confronted with a

shortage of the housing stock, problems of access to water, electricity and sanitation, hygiene

and public health, transport problems as well as proliferation of makeshift housing in slums

where the people face pollution, promiscuity and diseases.

Estimates project the predominance of urban poverty over rural poverty by 2020 if the trend

of « mal-urbanisation » is not reversed through national and regional policies which are

capable of keeping the rural people in their home regions through the integrated and

harmonious development of these areas.

Massive Population Growth accompanied by Strong Growth of the Young Population

West Africa’s population witnessed strong growth over the last few years, increasing from 70

million to nearly 300 million inhabitants between 1950 and 2010. Today, it represents nearly

40% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa. According to the projections of the United

Nations, the population of West Africa should reach between 550 and 600 million by 2050. It

is the youngest region of the world. In 2005, nearly 45% of the population was less than 15

years old and two-thirds was less than 25 years old. By 2050, nearly half of the population,

that is about 300 million people, will be less than 25 years old.

23 

 

In the years to come, strong population growth3, combined with its youthful profile, will bring

West Africa face-face with at least two phenomena. On the one hand, the increase in

population will increase market demand, pressure on the environment, demand for

employment as well as social services in the areas of health, education and care for the elderly

and bring about continued migratory movements both within and out of the region. On the

other hand, a change in the structure of the population will bring about changes in the

economic and social relations between generations. These include the modes of redistribution

or employment4, with all the political and social consequences.

This window of opportunity or population dividend will constitute the sole condition for

economic takeoff, if the conditions for the development of savings and, consequently,

investment are met. However, this exceptional opportunity can only materialise through

investments in the areas of health, education and job creation which will ensure the

transformation of the young population stock into a critical mass of well trained and very

healthy human resources. Otherwise, this opportunity can pose a major challenge in terms of

pressure on resources.

Health: Relative but Inadequate Progress to Eliminate the Precarious State of Indicators.

The health sector is one of the main weaknesses of West Africa. Access to health services

remains very limited in the region, particularly for the deprived people. The quality of health

delivery is poor in the public health centres, particularly those in the rural areas. Generally,

they lack drugs and other basic supplies. If this is the case, it is partly due to the fact that

budget allocations to the health sector cannot meet its expectations and demands and public

resources are allocated inappropriately to the various budget lines without a guarantee of the

effectiveness of interventions. More than half of the health personnel are found in the cities in

most cases and public expenditure is mostly channelled into expensive medical care which

benefits only a minority of the population. Private structures which have been springing up

over the last few years generally offer quality delivery which is, however, beyond the means

of the majority of the people.

                                                            3 West Africa should record the strongest growth among the regions of Africa between 2010 and 2025 (an annual

average of 2.55%, against 1.56%, 2.46%, 2.71% and 2.05% for North, Central, East and Southern Africa respectively); 2012 Report on the UNDP-MDGs, ECA, ADB, AU.

4OECD, West Africa Report, 2008

24 

 

However, it should be recognized that although they have not led to the sustainable resolution

of the health problems of the population, the efforts made over the last decade have relatively

improved the health indicators. The mortality rate dropped to 16 per thousand between 2000

and 2005, while infant mortality dropped to nearly 30 per thousand between 2000 and 2008.

Graph 01: Infant Mortality Rate of ECOWAS Countries in 2000 and 2008

Sources: Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP Unit/ECOWAS, 2011

On the average, average life expectancy was 55 years for all ECOWAS countries in 2009,

slightly higher on the average for the whole of sub-Saharan Africa which stood at 52.5 years,

but still far from that of countries with a high HDI which is 73 years5. Significant differences

exist between the life expectancy rates of the countries. The ratio between the longest life

expectancy (71.3 years for Cape-Verde) and the shortest life expectancy (47.9 years for Sierra

Leone) is about 23 years. Although they are lower than in the other regions of the continent,

the HIV/AIDS prevalence rates remain worrying and bring about serious socio-economic

consequences. Although they have tended to stabilize over the last few years, these rates have,

however, reached disturbing levels in the main capitals and towns of the sub-region.

                                                            5 African Development Indicators, World Bank, 2011

25 

 

Indications of a fall in the prevalence rates can even be observed in an increasing number of

countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and in the areas of Burkina Faso. The situation of Nigeria,

the region’s leading economy, is equally disturbing. Although the percentage of adults

infected by HIV (prevalence rate estimated at 3.6% in 2009) is lower than that of many other

sub-Saharan African countries, the huge population size of the country means that five million

five hundred thousand Nigerians lived with HIV in 2009. It is the second highest figure on the

continent after South Africa where, with a prevalence rate of 17.8%, nearly 8.5 million people

lived with HIV in 2009.

Education: Encouraging Growth in the Primary Enrolment Rate. However, Programmes and Training Schemes are still not suited to the Needs of the Economic Sectors.

Considerable efforts have been made to improve the enrolment rate in West Africa. Access to

primary education has increased, with sharp rises of nearly 30 percentage points between

1999 and 2000 for Mali, Guinea and Niger, while Senegal and Ghana recorded progression

rates of 19.9 and 16 respectively. However, declines were observed for Gambia (-1.2) and

particularly for Cape Verde (-16.6) as well as a quasi-stagnation for Cote d’Ivoire (0.9) over

the same period.

The improvement in the enrolment rate came together with the improvement in the girls/boys

ratio at the primary level. Thus, over the period 2000-2009, this ratio improved over an

interval of 3.5 to 15.5 for six countries of the region whose data is available6.

                                                            6 World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank, 2011

26 

 

Graph 02: Rate of Improvement of the Girl-Boy Enrolment Ratio  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources: Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP Unit/ECOWAS, 2011.

Graph 03: Net Primary Enrolment Rate in 2000 and 2009 for ECOWAS Countries

27 

 

0102030405060708090

100

2000

2009

Sources: Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP Unit/ECOWAS, 2011.

The low literacy rate in the majority of the other ECOWAS countries results from the

quantitative and qualitative inadequacy of infrastructure, educational equipment as well as

teaching personnel whose distribution is still to the detriment of the rural people. The

efficiency of the educational systems, characterized by high drop-out and repetition rates, is

due to the inadequate allocation of budgetary resources in most of the countries.

In spite of its acknowledged importance to provide support for employment policies and to

ensure balance between training and the real needs of enterprises, technical and vocational

education is still not accorded sufficient attention in the region. Staff in higher education

institutions represent only about 5% of staff in secondary schools. In some countries like The

Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania, among others, these staff hardly account for

5%, while the average of the African continent is 14%.

At the regional level, the differences in the educational systems, lack of convergence of

programmes and the insufficient level of exchanges among institutes, universities and the

research centres hinder the sharing of knowledge which would have indisputably had a

significant impact on the technical and technological progress of the region.

Thus, it appears that real progress is being made in primary education. However, the region

continues to post limited and discriminatory performances to the disadvantage of women in

the area of adult literacy.

Graph 04 : Literacy Rate of Men and Women for ECOWAS Countries, 2009

28 

 

0 20 40 60 80 100

BéninCap Vert 

Côte d'IvoireGambieGhanaGuinée

Guinée BissauLiberiaNigeriaSénégal

Femmes

Hommes

Sources: Calculations from the African Development Indicators, World Bank, 2001

These developments regarding the conditions of human development are taking place in a

regional context characterized by the achievements of relative results in the area of overall

economic growth.

1.2.3 Economic and Financial Situation

In spite of the various economic and financial crises which occurred in the last few years, the

West African economy showed a favourable overall economic growth profile, although the

levels of progression remain limited vis-à-vis the 7% minimum required to significantly

reduce poverty in the long term.

Macroeconomic Performance

Graph 05 shows the trend of the real GDP growth rate of the economy of ECOWAS and

Africa over the period 2001 – 2011.

Graph 05: Trend of Real GDP within ECOWAS and Africa over the period 2001 - 2011

29 

 

Sources: Calculations from Economic Prospects in Africa, 2010 - OCED © 2010

With the exception of 2001 and 2009, the recent economic trend shows that over the period

2001-2011, the growth rate of the West African economy remained lower than that of sub-

Saharan Africa.

However, the overall trend of the regional economy obscures a certain disparity which appears as soon as one takes an interest in that of member countries considered individually (See Graph 06). Indeed, for the period 2001-2011, ECOWAS countries can be brought under two main groups. The first group recorded a constantly progressing growth rate. This is particularly the case of Cape Verde, The Gambia and Ghana, with an annual average of more than 5% over the period 2001-2011. On the other hand, the advance in activities varied from 0.7% in Cote d’Ivoire to 3.1% in Guinea for the same period, with Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Togo finding themselves between the two extremes. For the last group, the poor performance recorded is linked to unstable political and social situations during the period under review.

30 

 

Graph 06: Trend of Real GDP Growth Rate of ECOWAS Member Countries from 2001 to 2011

Sources: Calcuations from Economic Prospects in Africa, 2010 - OCED © 2010

31 

 

In the second main group of countries, a downward trend of the economic growth rate was

observed for the period 2001-2011. Just like in the first group, it is also necessary to distinguish

the case of countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Mali and Burkina Faso which recorded relatively

higher growth rates. Indeed, whereas over the period, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and

Mali recorded an annual growth rate of 7.6%, 9.1%, 5.3% and 5.5% respectively, the others were

clearly below the sub-regional average and showed serious instability in the area of

macroeconomic performance. The average rate for Senegal and Benin stood at 3.8% and 4%

respectively.

According to the 2011 ECOWAS report, activities in most of the organisation’s member

countries could recover in 2012. Thus, with the end of the war, Cote d’Ivoire will record a

growth rate of about 8.1% in 2012, particularly due to the increase in investments and the

catching-up process as a result of the serious contraction of the economy which followed the

post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011. With regard to Ghana, the growth rate could stand at about

8.8% in 2012.

Trade Exchanges

Overall, the region posts a debit current balance.

Graph 07: Trend of the Current Balance of ECOWAS Member Countries from 2008 to 2011 as a percentage of GDP.

Sources: Calculations from Economic Prospects in Africa, 2010 - OCED © 2010

It appears that the external balance of the States remains fragile and unstable on the whole. For

the whole of the period 2008-2011, the current balance is in deficit for all the countries of the

region, with the exception of Nigeria. Although for Senegal, Sierra Leone, Benin and Cape

32 

 

Verde, the deficit appears to stabilize; for most of the other countries, the trend is structurally

disturbing.

Trade: A Social Structure and Weak Intra-Regional Trade, but Real Progress in the

Diversification of Markets.

• Intra-Regional Trade: A Development Requirement hampered by Multifaceted Constraints

West Africa has still not succeeded in bringing intra-community trade to its optimal level.

Although some progress has been made up to date, it neither reflects the scope of the objectives

set forth at the outset7, the declared intentions of the leaders of the region, nor even the efforts

made on a daily basis on the field by a huge part of the region’s population.

There certainly was an increase in trade within ECOWAS and UEMOA, but its volume is still limited. Intra-UEMOA trade increased from about 9% in 1980 to 11% in 1990, about 12% at the beginning of the 2000s and would stand at between 15% and 20%. For ECOWAS, the level of trade within the region increased from 11% to 15% between 2001 and 20078. Numerous reasons have been cited to justify this trend8. Among these is the fact that the structure

of trade in all the countries of the sub-region is strongly determined by the dependency on the

exportation of one or two staple commodities merely to generate foreign exchange.

These countries are very vulnerable to exogenous factors such as the trend of the prices of raw

materials, vagaries of the weather and constraints linked to market access to the industrialized

countries. In spite of the favourable trend of their macroeconomic framework over the last few

years, the countries of the region have not been able to diversify their production and marketing

base in the external markets and have not been able to significantly increase intra-community

trade flows.

In spite of the downward revision of tariffs, following the unilateral, regional and multilateral

trade liberalization initiatives, certain non-tariff barriers such as political instability, internal

socio-political and economic constraints and the poor level of trade facilitation are considerable

                                                            7 Among the objectives under the treaty on the establishment of ECOWAS in 1975 are: the free movement of goods and persons; the removal of non-tariff barriers; the establishment of a customs union built around a trade liberalization plan and the introduction of a Common External Tariff (CET), and the introduction of common trade policies. 8 Dièye, « The Future of Intra-Regional Trade in West Africa », 2010.

33 

 

barriers to intra-regional trade in West Africa9. In addition to this is the lack of implementation

of the ECOWAS trade liberalisation model/plan.

Throughout the region, the constraints seem to be the same, and most of them lead to a lack of

enforcement of the commitments the States have freely signed up to themselves. In addition to

the lack or inadequacy of infrastructure are relatively high customs tariffs, limited number of

products and services, marginalisation of both the formal and informal segments of the regional

private sector, all manner of administrative bottlenecks and the lack of reliable information

systems on opportunities and regional markets.

• External Trade :Poor diversification of the export base which is still dominated by raw

materials

The structure of the external trade of ECOWAS Member States is characterized by a poor

diversification of the export base which is mostly limited to a few primary products (between

one and three products) like hydrocarbons, cotton, cocoa and fish products. This concentration of

trade which was inherited from colonisation was strengthened by certain trade agreements which

ensured that a substantial part of the external trade of member countries was conducted with

Europe and the other continents.

For example, cotton reached or exceeded 50% of the amount of exports of Mali, Burkina Faso,

Benin and Togo. Out of the millions of tonnes produced by the region, 95% is exported in the

form of cotton fibre without undergoing any processing. Cote d’Ivoire still depends much on the

world demand for cocoa and coffee. Nigeria on the other hand relies on the export of

hydrocarbons for more than 93% of her revenue.

• Trade in Services in West Africa : A growth promoter hampered by institutional, regulatory

and infrastructural constraints

The development of the service sector is a major issue for West Africa. Services account for

between 30% and 60% of GDP in most of countries of the region and engage about one-third of

the active population. If we take the informal sector into account, it appears to be unquestionably

the leading provider of jobs in many countries. Services occupy a place of choice in the value

chain of all economic activities (primary, secondary and tertiary sectors) and contribute

                                                            9 Ogunkola, O. « Intra-Regional Trade in West Africa within the Context of the EPA Negotiation », 2009.

34 

 

effectively to the fight against poverty by giving work to often poorly trained categories of the

population through the construction, transport and retail trade sub-sectors, among others.

Most of the countries in the region derive a lot benefits from the export of services. In 2007, the

export of services from Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali was estimated at $ 631 million, $ 598

million and $ 227 million respectively10, a situation which appears to indicate that services play a

preponderant role in the region’s trade. The sector’s contribution to GDP is estimated at 63% for

Senegal, 67% for Ghana and nearly 69% for Cape-Verde.

Whereas the countries of the region have since the early ’80s been engaged in reforms aimed at

liberalising their service sector under the auspices of the IMF and the World Bank and that most

of them are taking part in the negotiations on the General Agreement of Trade in Services

(GATS) at the WTO, the sector continues to face numerous constraints which are preventing the

development of its potential.

There is little reliable data and information on the service sector in West Africa. The available

material « remains inadequate, incomplete, disparate and is contained in various studies or

monographs carried out either by the regional integration institutions or the individual countries.

This scattering of information does not ensure an objective appraisal of the state of services in

the region for a consistent negotiating strategy to be defined. »11

Thus, in the absence of detailed knowledge on the sector, it is difficult for West Africa to fashion

out a long-term regional vision which could underpin a sectoral policy on the trade in services.

However, this regional policy in the various priority areas identified in West Africa is a

requirement. The following sectors have been considered to be priority areas in West Africa:

infrastructure services; communication services; transport; financial services; corporate services,

including specialized services; tourism; construction services; cultural and recreational services,

sports, etc. These sub-sectors almost entirely overlap with the commitments made by the States

of the region at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as part of the negotiations on the GATS.

In addition to the lack of visibility for the potential of the service sector at the regional level,

various other internal and external constraints are undermining its competitiveness. Among the

internal constraints are fiscal pressure, development of the informal sector, difficulty of access to

                                                            10Extracts from « Statistics on International Trade, 2006 », WTO, 2007 11 « Desk Study on the Service Sector in West Africa », ECOWAS, December, 2006, p. 5

35 

 

credit and inadequacy of the financing mechanisms for the export of services, poor quality of

performance (poor compliance with ISO Quality Assurance Standards 9001 2000 Version),

energy deficit, lack of transparency and good governance, execution of a substantial part of

public contracts by foreign companies in many countries, inadequacy of service infrastructure,

high cost of trade transactions (factors of production, administrative bottlenecks), etc.

Among the external constraints are the following: lack of information on foreign markets,

obstacles to free movement, mutual recognition of qualifications and diplomas, relatively high

costs of the establishment of businesses abroad and the situation of land-locked countries, among

others.

Money and Finance

• Situation of the Sector

The financial sector of the ECOWAS Zone remains relatively under-developed, in spite of

efforts made by the Member States to further improve and deepen it in the last five years. This

weakness is brought to the fore by the huge challenge of development financing and the needs of

households confronting all the countries by calling for external financing from their partners and

by giving up or deferring their investment projects and programmes as well as their consumer

needs.

With regard to financial deepening, the ECOWAS Zone does not meet international and even

African standards12, with a money supply vis-à-vis GDP of about 30% in 2011. However, some

progress was made by Cape Verde (70%), Togo (50.7%), and Senegal (48.3%). Nigeria, which

accounts for more than 60% of the Zone’s production, only managed a ratio of 35.4%.

Graph 08: Distribution of ECOWAS Countries in accordance with the Financial Deepening Ratio, 2011 (M2/as a % of GDP)

                                                            12 Morocco and Mauritius recorded rates of 110.6% and 107% respectively in 2001

36 

 

Sources: African Development Bank, Statistical Department, 2011

At the level of UEMOA13, 111 credit institutions were operating in the Zone. These included 100

banks and 11 financial establishments of a banking nature. In all, an inventory of 1693 windows

and 1178 automatic teller machines was made in all the eight Member States. In 2010, there were

873 institutions in the micro-finance sector.

As at the end of 2010, Nigeria’s financial system had registered 24 deposit banks, 866 micro-

finance institutions and 108 non-bank financial institutions.

The penetration of banking operations measured by the percentage of bank account holders

among the population is however lower than 10% for the region.

With regard to the payment systems, the status of their development is differentiated within

ECOWAS. In fact, at the level of the UEMOA Zone, BCEAO has put in place a payments

systems infrastructure which includes the RTGS system with real time operations. In the WAMZ

member countries, WAMI is pursuing the modernisation of the payments systems as part of a

project financed by ADB for the following four countries: The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and

Sierra Leone. It aims at bringing the payments systems of these countries to the same level as

those of Ghana and Nigeria.

                                                            13 2010 BCEAO Annual Report

37 

 

At the level of UEMOA, a regional inter-bank credit card system which enables holders of the

GIM-UMOA card to carry out bank transactions in any of the countries of the Union and any

bank outlet has been put in place. A mobile payment project was also launched in December

2011 for the Zone.

With regard to the capital market, the community has four (4) stock markets: Nigerian Capital

Market (NCM), the Accra Stock Exchange in Ghana, the Cape Verde Stock Exchange and the

Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM). The various stock exchanges continue to be constrained by

their weak scale in terms of capitalization based on GDP – less than 1% for Nigeria and the

UMOA Zone – as well as the low number of their stakeholders.

In terms of monetary integration, the ECOWAS region is characterized by the operations of eight

monetary units14, justifying the initiative towards the establishment of a monetary union within

ECOWAS.

                                                            14 FCFA ( Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo) ; Escudo (Cape

Verde) ; Cedi (Ghana) ; Dalasi (Gambia) ; Guinean Franc (Guinea) ; Dollar (Liberia) ; Naira (Nigeria) and Leone (Sierra Leone)

38 

 

Regional Initiative for a Single Currency

The establishment of a monetary union is one of the priorities retained in the treaty as the

completion of the introduction of the market. Whereas UMOA is an experience of a common

monetary institution for eight countries, the ECOWAS Zone continues to have eight different

currencies in circulation. This situation continues to make the introduction of the single currency

the main objective of the Community in the area of monetary integration.

In this regard, in spite of the recurrent changes concerning the deadline, particularly the

establishment of WAMZ as a prerequisite, a new schedule was set for 2020, with a road map

adopted in May, 2009 and bought into by all the concerned stakeholders, particularly the central

banks. This new agenda sets forth priorities for economic and financial harmonisation and

macroeconomic convergence as well the establishment of a second monetary zone (ZMAO) for

its future merger with UMOA in order to ultimately establish the Single Monetary Zone for the

ECOWAS region.

It should also be stated that the region has embarked upon initiatives to ensure the integration of

the capital markets. Thus, ECOWAS has taken steps towards the integration of the three big

West African stock exchanges (Nigeria Stock Exchange, Ghana Stock Exchange and the BRVM

(Regional Stock Exchange).

Besides, efforts are also being made in the insurance sector, in spite of its poor development.

Thus, apart from the fact that the French-speaking countries of the Zone are members of CIMA,

a brown card has been in use in the 15 countries since 1982 in order to facilitate the movement of

transport vehicles.

The global economic context in terms of economic growth and trade shows that financial sector

indicators influence the performance of the sectors and vice-versa, particularly in the areas of

infrastructure, agriculture, natural resources as well as industry.

1.2.4 Sectoral Performance

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Infrastructure

It is widely acknowledged today that basic economic infrastructure is an important source of

productivity and, therefore, economic growth and development. Available empirical evidence in

Africa shows that the increase in the stock and the improvement in the quality of infrastructure

have a positive and significant impact on economic growth. Faced with the prospect of sub-

regional integration like the one in the ECOWAS region, the effect of infrastructure on economic

growth comes in the form of widening the size of the markets, induced economies of scale and

synergy generated by the infrastructure between the various sectors within the national

economies and between the various countries of the region.

The analysis of the sub-regional economic growth process shows that infrastructure plays an

important role in the ECOWAS region. Thus, the recent development of ICT has enabled this

sector to play a positive role in the economic performance of West Africa. On the other hand, the

deterioration of the road networks and energy infrastructure has hampered economic growth

both at the regional level and at the level of the individual countries.

The consensus arrived at with regard to the role of economic infrastructure justifies the renewed

interest of development stakeholders in the implementation of a proactive policy in this area in

order to support economic growth and development in the region.

At the Level of Transport Infrastructure

West Africa is facing serious challenges in the area of transport infrastructure as well as road,

rail, air, sea and river transport. In this area, available figures indicate that the region is seriously

dependent on road transport. More than 90% of the movement of freight and passengers still

takes place by road. In spite of the quasi-exclusive predominance of this mode of transport, the

countries of the ECOWAS region still remain under-equipped in terms of road infrastructure. In

fact, the region only has about 4.7km of road per 100km2, which is lower than the average of

6.8km for the entire African continent. On the whole, the sub-regional network comprises the

Trans-Coastal stretch (4,900km) between Dakar and Lagos, the Trans-Saharan stretch (5,400km)

between Nouakchott and Ndjamena and the interconnection roads which link up the coastal

countries with their land-locked neighbours.

40 

 

The total length of West Africa’s rail network is 10,188km. This network comprises 12 national

networks, six of which are for sub-regional use. Just as is the case for road transport, rail

infrastructure is generally dilapidated and unsuitable for the needs of modern rail transport; and

the rail tracks are characterized by different gauges from country to country. Indeed, the network

has three different gauges – 1,435mm (1,179km), 1,067mm (4,536km) and 1,000mm (4,473km),

thereby making railway interconnections difficult and expensive.

With regard to air transport, there is a lack of capacity to meet an ever growing domestic

demand. Although each ECOWAS country has at least one international airport, there still

remain disparities in certain technical characteristics of the runway facilities and other

equipment. In fact, the length of the airport runways varies from 1,200m to 3,900m and air traffic

equipment still requires a lot more efforts at modernisation in order to ensure the adequate

development of air transport within the ECOWAS region.

In the area of sea and river transport, the West African sub-region has about twenty sea ports and

a river network made up of three main rivers: Gambia, Niger and Senegal.

The ports are among the least efficient in the world, with performance levels lower than the

world average. Moreover, most of them do not meet international standards (International Ships

and Port Facilities Security Code – ISPS). With regard to the river network, there are variations

in the water levels, while sandy and rocky thresholds are present. This situation explains its

seasonal and localised nature.

At the Level of Energy Sector Infrastructure

West Africa has one of the significant energy potentials in Africa, with 30% of the proven crude

oil reserves (3.017 million tonnes) and 3.581 million m3 of natural gas, i.e. 31% of the

continent’s proven reserves. Mention should also be made of a hydro-electrical potential

estimated at 23, 900 MW and possibilities for the development of solar and wind energy.

However, in spite of these proven substantial resources, it presents a real paradox. Beyond the

problems linked to the unequal distribution of energy resources, the absence of a real energy

41 

 

market and the predominance of biomass as a source of energy, the energy sector is facing

serious difficulties both linked to weaknesses in the production capacity and the dilapidated state

of distribution infrastructure. Thus, it appears that the total installed generation capacity in West

Africa was estimated at 10,261 MW in 2005, i.e. a thermal component of 6,133 MW and a

hydroelectric component of 4.128 MW.

Up to this day, less than 30% of West Africa’s population has direct access to electricity; and this

proportion only stands at 6% in the rural areas. The 15 ECOWAS member countries have a total

population of more than 252 million inhabitants. On the basis of the demand for electricity in

2003 (close to 6,500 MW), it is expected that demand will increase at a rate of about 7.6% until

2020. Peak demand will, therefore, exceed 22,000 MW, while the population will reach 380

million, thereby making the energy problem more severe if nothing is done to find a solution for

it.

According to figures from the Energy Directorate of ECOWAS, the attainment of the region’s

objectives in the area of energy infrastructure requires substantial investments. This investment

need is estimated at 17.5 billion dollars over a ten-year period for access infrastructure, including

research and accompanying measures and 34.6 billion dollars over a ten-year period for energy,

including the cost of production and transmission.

At the Level of Telecommunications Infrastructure

The telecommunications and information and communication technology sector has witnessed

appreciable transformation and development within ECOWAS over the last few years. In fact,

information and communications technology, which appeared to be an instrument to bring the

people together and as a powerful vector of development and economic growth, today occupies

an important place in the integration process. The development of telecommunications

infrastructure within ECOWAS finds expression in the introduction of new technologies and new

services, particularly fibre optics as a transmission medium in the networks, the SDH

(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) technology which is more flexible than the PDH

(Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) the GSM services, the RNIS, Wi-Fi and ADSL broadband

services in certain countries, etc.

Overall, economic infrastructure is characterized by their poor state and lack of competitiveness.

This situation brings about relatively high production costs for the region and has a negative

42 

 

influence on international and intra-regional trade. To overcome these inadequacies and

contribute to the development efforts of its Member States, ECOWAS adopted a Medium Term

Action Plan for infrastructural development. This plan quite rightly fits into the vision for the

attainment of strategic objective 2 of Vision 2020 of ECOWAS, the purpose of which is to

promote economic and social development within the community. It encompasses the entire

energy, transport and telecommunications infrastructure and aims at achieving the

interconnection of the national transport networks, the development of power production stations

on a regional scale and transboundary electrification. Therefore, ECOWAS has embarked on the

following:

- Formulation and implementation of an energy policy through the development of the regional

Power Pool (WAPP) which will lead to the interconnection of the national electricity networks,

the construction of hydroelectric power stations, the rehabilitation of energy distribution and

transmission networks, etc;

- Formulation of telecommunications infrastructure around the broadband backbone network

connected to the international global networks by undersea cables. This initiative is mainly part

of three important projects, viz: the « SAT3/WASC/SAFE » project for the laying of an undersea

fibre optic cable along the West African coast, the « INTELCOMM II » project initiated by the

ECOWAS Commission and the « RASCOM » project which aims at putting in place a satellite

communications system to cover all African countries. As part of efforts at developing

telecommunications infrastructure, ECOWAS has identified 32 inter-state telecommunications

links and hopes to provide the sub-region with a terrestrial broadband network in addition to the

West African undersea cable project, and

- Promotion of a multi-modal, efficient, reliable and less expensive transport system through the

implementation of the ECOWAS railway interconnection master plan, interconnection of the

road networks with the Trans-Coastal and Trans-Saharan routes, development of port

infrastructure and the creation of a West African air transport market.

The elimination of constraints in the area of infrastructure could improve the performance of the

agricultural and environmental sectors, particularly through a reduction in the factor costs and

trade facilitation.

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Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment

Agriculture and Food Security: A Vital Sector with poorly exploited Potentials

For West African countries, agriculture is at the centre of the major economic, social, political,

environmental and cultural issues.

The export capacity of many of the countries in the region is dependent on agriculture, including

those endowed with substantial energy deposits (oil and natural gas) like Nigeria. This situation

puts this sector at the centre of the economic dynamics. Agriculture also enables the countries to

service their debts and to finance imports of consumer goods, capital goods or intermediate

products for industry. The initial challenge faced by the agricultural sector is to continue to

perform this economic function more effectively by increasing the productivity of all the factors

and by supplying the raw materials for the craft and agro-food industries. This issue is crucial for

the region to attain food independence vis-à-vis the rest of the world and to, through the

processing of products and the inclusion of value addition, improve the current terms of trade

which are unfavourable to ECOWAS countries.

Agriculture employs more than 60% of the active population of the region, even though wages

and salaries remain low, in comparison with the other sectors of the economy.

For a region like West Africa, the main issue facing agriculture is to ensure the food security of

households, given the importance of home consumption in the strategies of agricultural

households and the role played by the local food markets to feed the urban population. About

80% of the food needs of the population are met by production at the regional level. This

challenge is also about the region’s food sovereignty for which the regional agricultural policy

(ECOWAP), widely acknowledged as a healthy initiative, should support a series of measures

and policies in the areas of trade, industry and international commitments.

Agriculture in West Africa is, however, characterised by its extreme heterogeneity. The diverse

national situations indeed constitute both a challenge and an opportunity for the region. Although

the advantages are found in the complementarity of the eco-systems or the agro-ecological zones

in terms of agricultural production, the constraints are found in the natural human factors.

44 

 

To a very large extent, it is also dependent on family farms which produce nearly all of the

cereals, oilseeds, cotton, cocoa, coffee and other crops. The exceptions are rubber, palm oil and

sugar. Most of the production of these is done on commercial plantations.

The generally gloomy situation of agriculture in West Africa is in sharp contrast with the

immense assets at the region’s disposal. The region has more than 236 million hectares of farm

land. Out of this, only 24% is put under cultivation each year. Out of a surface area of 132

million hectares of grazing land, only 25.9% is used. In addition, it has big rivers and large

irrigable lands, a great diversity of products forming a wide complementary range, a remarkable

opening unto the ocean and a huge sea and inland fishing potential. 

Furthermore, from the perspective of key agricultural sector performance indicators, in spite of a

relatively large contribution to the regional GDP at an average rate of 35% against 15.8% and

19% for Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia, agricultural development in ECOWAS is low.

Thus, the region has the lowest levels of fertiliser use (7.8 kg per hectare as against 11.4kg and

133.3 kg for Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia respectively) and a relatively high food

dependency rate (17.7% against 11.7% and 7.3% for Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia.

Table 01: Key Comparative Indicators for the agricultural sector in the ECOWAS region

Country

Agricultural value-added (%)

Cereals Output

Kg of fertiliser /ha

Share of food products in total imports

Agricultural production /capita Kg

% Rural Population

Benin 33.7 1,157 4.3 25.1 148 59.9Burkina Faso 33.8 1,006 9.9 17.4 241 81.6Cape Verde 9.6 329 29.6 21 42.7Côte d'Ivoire 24.1 1,757 23.6 19.3 76 53.2Gambia 25.7 1,084 7.8 35.7 145 46.3Ghana 35.0 1,434 9.8 15.5 95 52.2Guinea 21.8 1,489 1.0 20.2 254 66.9Guinea Bissau 55.0 1,342 50.8 139 70.3Liberia 1,180 56 42.0Mali 37.4 1,140 12.9 15.1 283 69.4Niger 39.3 415 0.4 29.8 275 83.6Nigeria 37.2 1,383 6.0 16.3 171 53.8Senegal 16.6 981 7.0 25.7 115 58.3Sierra Leone 49.4 1,193 27.6 129 63.1

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Togo 38.6 1,141 5.6 18.0 161 60.1ECOWAS 35.3 1,247 7.8 17.7 169 58.4Sub-Saharan Africa 15.8 1,203 11.4 11.7 138 65.0South Asia 19.9 2,548 133.3 7.3 218 71.3World 3.1 3,307 117.0 7.1 347 51.4Sources: World Development Indicators (WDI), 2011.

Environment and natural resources : a capital for growth and sustainable development

West Africa has three geo-climatic zones; they are the tropical humid zone, characterised by high

rainfall patterns with annual averages of over 1.5m per annum; the sub-tropical zone has a good

rainfall pattern but marked by variations depending on the years and finally, the Sahelian zone

characterised by poor or scarce rainfall, drought and an almost irreversible advancing desert. In

spite of their peculiar agro-ecological constraints which were however relatively brought under

control by the population of the region, each of these zones, up to a period around the 1970’s,

had very rich ecosystems which provided opportunities for agricultural and forest-related

activities, thus helping to maintain the standard of living of the population within sustainable

levels.

But from the mid 1970’s, as a result of the long and repeated drought, particularly in the

Sahelian zone, the natural resources (water, soil, vegetation cover and animal life) began to

deteriorate at an alarming rate. Though the environment and natural resources had always been a

source of meeting the essential needs of the population of West Africa, with the entry of the

West Africa region into the global market, these resources constitute an essential basis for wealth

creation. The evidence is that the entry of the region into the world market is itself based, to a

large extent, on the supply of raw materials and the exploitation of natural resources.

The natural capital of the region can be an important engine for growth and sustainable

development. In addition to the diversity of climatic zones, the long coastline, the generally

abundant and under-utilised water resources as well as the rich but hardly explored sub-soil are

some of the major assets. At the local level, these natural resources provide livelihood for

46 

 

majority of the population, particularly for the poorest people just as it pertains in most of the

low-income countries. At the global level, the renewable natural resources of the region are also

part of global issues, especially in the field of the environment. This opens great opportunities

for the region in the area of the green economy.

Industrial sector : still very low contribution to regional wealth creation

The West African secondary sector (manufacturing industry, mines, energy and the construction

industry) employs between 2 and 10% of the working population depending on the countries. It

contributed an average of 30.3% to the GDP of the region in 2006, with the share of the

manufacturing industry dropping to 7.4%15. This poor contribution of the manufacturing industry

is an indication of the low value addition to the natural resources of the region, in particular to

agricultural products.

By way of comparison, it must be noted that the contribution of the secondary sector to GDP in

South Africa, Malaysia, Mauritius and Tunisia varies between 34% and 47% of the GDP of these

countries. Also worth noting is the high contribution of between 20% and 33% of the

manufacturing industry to GDP. These countries record a very high industrial value addition to

primary products, especially agricultural products and development of the state-of-the-art

technology sub-sectors (biotechnology, ICT, etc.).

The major part of the economies depends on mining and agricultural resources. Thus, they

become permanent victims of price volatility on the world market. In the eight UEMOA

countries, agro-food products and textiles account for two-thirds (2/3) of the value added to

manufacturing. The overall situation in the ECOWAS countries shows that many aspects of

manufacturing activities face serious competition from imports. In many countries, the poor

infrastructure, notably in the field of electricity supply, high interest rates on bank loans and the

worsening of the business environment have exacerbated the difficulties and undermined

industrial performance.

The lacklustre situation observed in the industrial sector can therefore be explained in different

ways. In actual fact, the industrial fabric cannot be consolidated without providing more

                                                            15 Document on ECOWAS Industrial Policy, July 2010

47 

 

incentives for investment, whether it applies to heavy industries, small-scale or medium-scale

enterprises. Investment flows however require a number of conditions: a reassuring regulatory

and legal framework, an attractive investment code, an accommodating tax regime for

businesses, a more adapted financing policy, high quality infrastructure and a physically solvent

and accessible market.

However, West Africa has expressed a strong political will aimed at creating the necessary

conditions to consolidate the industrial sector in support of economic development in the region.

This is evidenced by the formulation of a common regional industrial policy (PICAO). The

objective of the regional industrial policy is to promote the widening of the industrial and export

bases, ensure increased productivity and competitiveness of community industries, intensify

value addition to local resources, integrate the local, national and international value and supply

chains, create employment and participate in poverty reduction, among others.

Thus, the situation in West Africa reflects a mixed picture. On the one hand, the region still faces

political and security uncertainties in Mali and Guinea Bissau and limited performance in terms

of social indicators, lack of infrastructure and access to infrastructure in both the agricultural and

industrial sectors and its intra-regional trade.

On the other hand, the region has recorded a generally positive economic growth trend, a

population factor likely to be a major asset, a potential for growth in the financial sector and for

the considerable natural and mineral resources.

Faced with this two-fold reality, it is important to consider the role of the various actors in the

region engaged in addressing the challenges of political instability and the low human

development and to make the most of the opportunities and potentials offered by the region.

1.3 Integration and regional development actors

The Member States, IGOs, non-State actors and development partners are the main stakeholders

engaged in integration and development in the ECOWAS region.

1.3.1 Member States

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ECOWAS, like other IGOs in the Community, was established as a result of the determination of

the Member States to pool their efforts together for the creation a larger integrated body

conducive to economic and human development.

The States are therefore at the heart of the integration process and they have both rights and

obligations.

Thus, they are vested with decision-making authority over the management bodies, the budget

and the working programme as well as over policies, projects and programmes initiated by

ECOWAS through the Authority of Heads of State and Government and the Council of

Ministers. In this regard, among other rights, the Authority of Heads of State appoints the

President of the Commission and for its part, the Council of Ministers appoints the statutory

appointees such as the Commissioners responsible for the various Departments at the

Commission and approves the budget and working programme. These bodies also adopt the

regional policies which are the main instruments for the implementation of the regional

integration projects.

In return, the Member States assume the financial obligation of collecting a 0.5% community

levy based on the value of goods imported from third countries16 and lodging the proceeds into

the Community Account. The amount collected as levy is allocated for the ordinary budget of the

Commission and for other Community Institutions.

To ensure greater effectiveness of ECOWAS initiatives and interventions, Decision

« C/REC.1/11/82 » was taken on ECOWAS National Units which serve as national bridges for

ECOWAS actions. They receive 4.5% of the community levy of their respective Member States

to support their operations and monitor integration projects. The ECOWAS National Units are

complemented by or associated with other intermediary bodies to support and facilitate regional

integration initiatives. In particular, it is worth noting that National Coordination Committees

(NCC)/National Economic Policy Committees (CNPE) were established within the framework of

Decision A/DEC17/12/01 on the adoption of a multilateral surveillance mechanism, and more

recently, National CDP Committees have been initiated to ensure institutional anchoring of the

aforementioned programme.

                                                            16 Protocol A/P1/7/96 sets out the level of levying and implementation conditions.

49 

 

1.3.2 Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs) : a complex institutional landscape

West Africa has a long tradition of developing Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs).

Currently, there are more than thirty IGOs and they are highly diversified in their areas of

operation and the geographical region covered.

Regarding the areas of intervention, the following should be noted: agriculture and livestock,

energy and water, transport and communications, financial cooperation, education and research,

health and youth concerns. Among these IGOs, three operate directly in the field of economic or

monetary integration. They include the UFM, ECOWAS and UEMOA. From this perspective,

they cover several areas and participate in the harmonisation of internal policies of the countries

concerned. It must be noted however that ECOWAS has a broader mandate because apart from

harmonising socio-economic policies, its mandate encompasses the political dimension,

maintenance of peace and security and promotion of democracy and good governance in all the

Member countries.

Table 02 : Distribution of IGOs according to their areas of intervention Area of intervention Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs)

Agriculture and livestock CIEH, OMVS, ALG, AFRICARICE, CILSS, OMVG, ABN, CCRE Energy and water ERERA, ECREEE Transport and communications ASECNA, CAFAC

Finance BCEAO, FEGECE, BOAD, FSA, FAGACE, ABAOA, WAMA, BRVM, GIABA,WAMI, EBID

Education and research CAMES, RECTAS, AGRHYMET, INSAH, ACMAD, AFRISTAT, CCDG,

Health and youth OOAS/WAHO, CDJS Integration UFM, ECOWAS, UEMOA

Sources : CRES, IGO Survey, Department of Macroeconomic Policy /CDP Unit /ECOWAS, 2011.

50 

 

Each of the ECOWAS Member States belongs to a number of other IGOs in areas which often

overlap.

The above table indicates that Member States belong to IGOs on a scale ranging between 12 and

26 with an average of 19 per Member State.

This multiple affiliation to several organisations explains the relevance of the debate on the

respective comparative advantages of IGOs if they are not rationalized.

Table 03: Number of Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs) per country Countries Number of IGOs

Mali 26 Niger 26 Burkina Faso 25 Senegal 25 Benin 22 Côte d’Ivoire 21 Guinea Bissau 21 Togo 20 Guinea Conakry 19 Gambia 15 Cape Verde 13 Ghana 13 Nigeria 13 Sierra Leone 13 Liberia 12 Average 19

Sources: CRES, IGO Survey, Department of Macroeconomy/ CDP Unit/ECOWAS, 2011.

The trend towards regional groupings is quite noticeable within the countries in the ECOWAS

region. While bearing testimony to the commitment for regional integration, the situation must

stimulate reflections on the effectiveness of interventions by these organisations and on the

consistency of their initiatives.

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1.3.3 Non-State Actors (NSA): a duty to factor in the aspirations of the people.

The expression «non-State actors » was proposed by the European Union as part of the EU-

ACP Cotonou Agreements in 2000 to extend the community partnership beyond relations other

than those with States alone. It includes relations with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the

private sector, research bodies as well as economic and social partners including trade union

organisations and types of social groupings according to national specificities.

As the objective is to achieve an ECOWAS of peoples, the institutional approach between

ECOWAS and the States was complemented by the inclusion of Non-State Actors.

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)

At the regional level, the CSOs have groups which bring on board stakeholders from several

countries and they operate in a wide range of fields such as production, human development,

peace and security, governance and democracy. Some organisations cover all the countries in the

ECOWAS region such as the Network of Farmers’ Organisations and Agricultural Producers of

West Africa (ROPPA) or the Network of Women’s Associations in Africa (AFAO).

It is partly to address this shortcoming that ECOWAS provided support for the creation of

WACSOF to strengthen civil society and facilitate constructive partnerships with the State

authorities, the political parties and ECOWAS.

Private sector

In the countries and the IGOs, the private sector is considered as an engine of economic

development. As part of the framework of regional integration, its role is equally important.

Indeed, the development of intra-regional trade, regional industries and community

infrastructure cannot be undertaken without the active participation of the private sector.

At the regional level, the private sector is attempting to organise itself through organisational

structures whose activities extend to all the ECOWAS Member States. Of particular note are :

West African Bankers Association (WABA), Federation of West African Chambers of

Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI), the Federation of Associations of West African

Industrialists (FAIAO), the West Africa NEPAD Business Group, the Federation of ECOWAS

52 

 

Women Entrepreneurs and Businesswomen (FEFA), the Federation of Employers’

Organisations in West Africa (FOPAO), the Association of Investment Promotion Agencies in

West African States (FEPAWAS), the Association of Road Haulage Transporters of West

Africa, the Platform of ECOWAS Exporters and the West African Tourism Union.

Research sector :

In spite of its central role in guiding and evaluating development strategies, the research sector

presents a less glamorous picture. In the Member countries, there are universities and research

centres with different and unequal levels of development and quality, but at the regional level the

coordination of their actions is rather inadequate in spite of the existence of some networking

activities such as the Network of Social Policy Research for West and Central Africa, the West

and Central Africa Network for Research in Education, the West African Research Association

and the West African Research Network.

In terms of staffing, the initial analysis of the research potential reveals the low level of

development of higher education. In 2005, only four (4) countries in the region exceeded the

threshold of 500 students per 100 000 inhabitants. They include Nigeria (1 024), Senegal (698),

Benin (622) and Côte d’Ivoire (604). By contrast, in the developed countries, this figure varies

between 3 500 in France and 6 000 in the USA.

In this report, the number of researchers is relatively low as compared to global standards. In

2007, the number of researchers FTE17 (in full-time equivalents) for a million inhabitants

was estimated at less than 100 for many of the countries in the region as against 382 in South

Africa, 942 in Botswana and 1 588 in Tunisia. These figures show that Sub-Saharan Africa needs

to redouble its efforts to achieve the universal standard of 2000 researchers for 1 million

inhabitants18.

Against this background of enormous challenges in the research sector, the ECOWAS region has

taken giant steps by adopting a regional sector policy in science and technology as well as a

                                                            17 The FTE is a measurement of the actual volume of human resources involved in research and development

(R&D). It is equal to a person working full-time for a year or several persons working part-time for a very short period corresponding to one person-year.

18 Source : UNESCO Statistical Institute database.

Note: N/A : data not available.

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comprehensive research policy, the establishment of the West African Research Institute in 2011

as part of a public-private partnership initiative and the commissioning of an Economic Policy

Analysis Unit (EPAU) since the end of 2010 with the support of the ACBF.

1.3.4 Development Partners

In spite of efforts by the Member States to ensure the payment of 1% community levy by

UEMOA countries and 0.5% by ECOWAS countries for financing ECOWAS and UEMOA

budgets, the region continues to depend on the contributions of development partners to achieve

its economic and social development objectives.

This expectation is still more pronounced among the other IGOs and non-State actors which do

not receive relatively secure funding like the community levy systems.

This situation compels most of the IGOs to source funding from bilateral and multilateral

development partners.

In the recent period of 2007-2012, the region, in particular ECOWAS, has been able to count on

multifaceted interventions from development partners in the form of technical assistance, direct

financial support, capacity building, project financing and development programmes in various

fields of endeavour.

Without going into details here, the table below provides an overview of the major partners of

the region, their areas or sectors of intervention and the type of assistance they have provided

over the last six years.

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Table 04: Partners of the ECOWAS region per area of assistance and type of assistance –2007-2012

Development Partners Areas of assistance Type of assistance Multilateral partners African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)

Statistics – Economic Analyses and Research

Capacity building - Financing an Economic Policy Analysis Unit at the ECOWAS

African Development Bank (BAD)

Transport – Peace and Security, Information and Communication Technology - Statistics

Capital Investment/ Capacity building – Technical Assistance

World Bank Infrastructure – Agriculture – Trade – Environment – Health - Energy

Facilitation of transport and trade – Technical Assistance – Financial support- financial and technical assistance to the WAPP

European Commission / 9th EDF

EPA Negotiations – Trade – Customs – Private Sector – Non-State Actors – Formulation of the CDP – Justice- Peace and Security – Transport- Free Movement – Multilateral Surveillance – Statistics and Research - Agriculture – Environment - Culture

Financial support for EPA Negotiations – Technical Cooperation – Financial support – Capacity building -

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Agriculture Technical Assistance- Formulation of the ECOWAS Regional Agricultural Policy

POOL FUND : CIDA (Canada), DFID (United Kingdom), Spain

External Relations - Strategic Planning - Monitoring -Evaluation- Support Services (Administration and Finance) – Legal Services – Private Sector- Trade– Customs (Common External Tariff) – Energy – Establishment of the ECOWAS Project Preparation and Development Unit – Formulation of the CDP-

Recruitment of personnel – Financing consultancy services – Financing Workshops and Meetings – Capacity building – Technical and Financial Assistance

UNO/HCR (High Commission for Refugees)

Humanitarian Affairs Capacity building

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Human Development Capacity building

Other United Nations Institutions (UNIFEM, UNDP, UNIDO, UNOPS)

Humanitarian Affairs – Industry - Agriculture

Institutional support , Technical and Financial Assistance

Bilateral partners Germany /GIZ Customs – Monitoring -Evaluation –

Health (HIV/AIDS) – Peace and Security – Statistics – Formulation of

Capacity building – Technical and Financial Assistance

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the CDP Canada /CIDA Trade, Peace and Security Capacity building – Technical

and Financial Assistance – Infrastructural Development

Spain Migration and development - Energy – Agriculture – Trade- Peace and Security -

Institutional support – Technical and Financial Assistance

United States /USAID Agriculture – Energy - Trade Technical and Financial Assistance – Capacity building – Capital/Investment

France NEPAD, Peace and Security Institutional support, Financing activities

United Kingdom /DFID Trade – Formulating the CDP- Regional Integration – Strategic Planning

Technical Assistance – Institutional support – Financing the formulation of the CDP Unit – Financing Strategic Planning

Other bilateral partners (Denmark, Norway, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland)

Peace and Security – Transport – Migration – Trade – Regional Integration

Technical and Financial Assistance – Financing Workshops and Meetings – Capacity building

Sources : ECOWAS/ External Relations Directorate / Contribution Agreement EU-ECOWAS 2011

Thus, from this less exhaustive review, the intervention by at least seven (7) multilateral partners

and eleven (11) bilateral partners is supporting integration and development initiatives by the

region in diverse ways, mainly through the recruitment of personnel, capacity building, financing

consultancy services, and generally-speaking, through the provision of institutional, technical

and financial assistance.

Apart from these interventions, the region, particularly ECOWAS, is developing special

partnerships in the area of developing the private sector with China, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela

in the fight against malaria.

In terms of the level of intervention, the European Union, under the Ninth (9th) EDF, and as part

of its « Contribution Agreement » mechanism, approved a programme estimated at 44.8 Million

Euros over the period 2007 -2011 while the Pool Fund embarked on an 11.7 million dollar

programming between 2010 and 2012.

Though it is important to emphasise that the rate of implementation of these programmes is

relatively low (i.e.35% for the Contribution Agreement by the European Union, 20% for the Pool

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Fund as at the end of 2010) and disbursements to ECOWAS were suspended by these partners

from the second half of 2011, the region was able to achieve appreciable results through the

assistance provided by these donors.

Among other progress, the region, mostly ECOWAS, was able to finalise its monitoring-

evaluation mechanism, its strategic planning framework which are invaluable tools for decision-

making based on the T21 simulation model; it also finalised the establishment of the PPDU Unit,

the operational effectiveness of the multilateral surveillance mechanism, an assistance

arrangement and inclusion of non-State actors, the ECOWAS regional agricultural policy and its

operational framework. The Community also made progress in establishing a regional common

market both in terms of free movement and the introduction of the free trade regime, and also in

developing the regional private sector.

However, the interventions by the partners have been subjected to several criticisms with regard

to the relatively low level of implementation. The establishment of consistency in the activities

of the TFP is important at the regional level including an improved coordination of their

interventions in the countries and at the regional level.

1.4 Issues and challenges

1.4.1 Issue of governance

The challenge of good governance is still an issue which needs to be addressed. Comparative

statistics on good governance indicators at the country level in table 19 in Annex 2 shows, with

the relative exception of Cape Verde, that most of the countries in the region are ranked among

the bottom half of countries in the world in terms of good governance at the global level.

Graph 09: Score on governance effectiveness of ECOWAS countries compared to some countries outside the region.

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Note : The score varies between -2,5 (low) and 2.5 (high)

Source : World Bank (www.govindicators.org)

According to many development experts, democracy constitutes an integral part of development;

and social progress and democracy are mutually reinforcing processes. Amartya Sen, Nobel

Laureate for Economics 1998, sees it as « a process of expanding real freedoms which people

can enjoy. In this way, the expansion of freedoms is both the primary purpose and primary

means of development »19.

                                                            19 Amartya Sen, National Endowment for Democracy, Journal of Democracy, Journal Hopkins University, 1999,

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Generally, the link between good governance on the one hand, and growth and economic

development on the other, is increasingly highlighted. To this end, the consideration of the

average trend of the « Mo Ibrahim » global index20 and the average growth rate of ECOWAS

Member States over the period from 2000 to 2010 revealed a positive correlation of about 0.721,

representing a relatively strong correlation between progress in terms of good governance and

economic growth.

Graph 10 : Average variation of the Good Governance Index (2000 – 2010) and average annual growth rate (2001 – 2009) for ECOWAS countries

Sources: Calculations from World Bank statistics (www.govindicators.org)

The ECOWAS region has subscribed to this key principle which generally establishes a link

between violent internal conflicts triggered, to a large extent, by bad governance, identity crises

and bad governance of resources on the one hand, and collective development efforts on the

other. To this end, the region adopted Protocol A/SP1/12/01 of 21 December, 2001 on

democracy and good governance, supplementary protocol to Protocol A/P1/12/99 of 10

December, 1999, relating to the Mechanism for Conflict prevention, management, resolution and

                                                            20 Established in 2007, the Ibrahim index is the most comprehensive quantitative data leading to an annual

performance assessment in the area of governance in every African country 21 Correlation rate calculated on the basis of average growth rates of countries (2001-2009) and the average changes

of the Ibrahim index between 2000 and 2010 in index points.

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maintenance of peace and security which came into effect in February 2008. In spite of the

ratification of this protocol by most of the ECOWAS Member States, the region continues to be

rocked by politico-military upheavals which undermine development efforts.

It is quite important to support integration and regional development more dependably by

addressing this challenge as a means of consolidating the progress made.

1.4.2 Weakness of intra-regional trade

More than three decades after the establishment of ECOWAS, intra-regional trade is still below

expectation in spite of the existence of several mechanisms relating to the free movement of

persons and goods, the elimination of customs duties and the periodic institution of regional

trade fairs.

The current level of intra-regional trade is limited to around 15% of total trade among ECOWAS

countries whereas many opportunities abound and could be exploited to increase wealth. The

current context of globalisation and multilateral negotiations requires appropriate treatment of

the issue to enable the region to conquer its own internal market. An increase in intra-regional

trade is not only an important factor to speed up the process and better manage the relations of

the region with the rest of the world but also to manage the external shocks and the multilateral

negotiations.

1.4.3 Challenge of competitiveness

One of the economic justifications of integration, among others, is to reduce factor costs through

economies of scale, a pooling of efforts and the adoption of adequate regulations. Indeed, these

costs are relatively high and they are a major constraint to competitiveness of the regional

economy. Thus, the average cost of a kilowatt per hour w/h is relatively high for countries in the

ECOWAS region, both for households and for industries. The observation is the same in the area

of international transport where the ECOWAS region has the highest costs apart from Central

Africa.

Table 05: Average electricity tariff for some countries or regions of the world Region/Countries (US cents/kWh )

Households Industries ECOWAS1 14.95 18.70

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USA (2009)2 11.26 6.83 Europe (2009)3 19.18 14.02

South East Asia (2011)4 India 7.1 11.3

Pakistan 8.5 10.3 Bangladesh 4.8 5.4

Nepal 9.9 9.3Sri Lanka 14.6 9.1

Sources: 1Union of Producers, Transporters and Distributors of Electric Power in Africa, 2009 2Energy Information Administration (EIA) in http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/esr/table5.html, 3Eurostat à http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/; 4 http://www.efsl.lk/reports/electricity_supply_south_asian_countries.pdf

Table 06: Cost of transport in some countries or regions of the world Region/ Countries US cent per tonne km Pakistan 2 Brazil 3.5 USA 4 China 5 Western Europe 5 Southern Africa 6 West Africa 7 East Africa 8 Central Africa 11

Sources: Supee Teravaninthorn and Gaël Raballand (2008) “Transport Prices and Costs in Africa: A Review of the Main International Corridors”, Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), Working Paper 14

It is therefore clear that the people and businesses in the region suffer from high costs of factors

which are obstacles to competitiveness and to the improvement of the standards of living of the

population. In this regard, a reduction in energy or telecommunications costs resulting from a

regional initiative will have a significant impact on regional integration and development, as it

will engender a good perception of integration by the population.

1.4.4 Poor coherence of policies and programmes

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Even though there are several IGOs in West Africa, ECOWAS has the largest number as it cust

across all the States of the region with the exception of Mauritania. However, many ongoing

projects and programmes even within the ECOWAS Commission itself have not always had the

expected level of consitency. There is no comprehensive initiative which serves as the guiding

principle and the reference framework for all ongoing programmes. Programmes are initiated

through cooperation or on emergency basis to the detriment of sustainability.

Furthermore, the major development programmes are often multisectoral in nature and there is

the need for better coordination to strengthen their coherence as a whole. One of the major

challenges of the Commission is to address this challenge which is quite often not resolved even

in the States.

The region has several Intergovernmental Organisations. Currently, there are about thirty IGOs

spread across ECOWAS Member countries according to country specificities; geographical

landscape (Mano Rivers, CILSS, etc.), linguistic affinity (UEMOA) or political orientation

matters (Council of the Entente). These different IGOs have mandates and programmes which

are often intermingled without any proper consistency. Such a situation is likely to dilute the

impact of actions taken as a result of the low resource optimisation, at the financial, material and

human levels, not forgetting the confusions and contradictions which necessarily crop up.

In addition, to ensure real consistency among these different IGOs, it would be appropriate to

broaden the discussion on their synergy. The rationalisation of regional integration institutions

becomes a priority in order to minimise the problems and the costs incurred through overlapping

of functions, the competition for financing and the multiple memberships. Though such an

analysis is justified to some extent, it will be pertinent and more productive to work on the

comparative advantages of each of them.

1.4.5 Challenge of long term planning

The European Union, the most advanced regional economic grouping in terms of integration was

developed around steel and coal. It was much later that other more visible aspects even came to

add to the process. The capacity to anticipate long term integrating projects was lacking in the

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ECOWAS initiatives. Thus, the region continues to face energy crisis, which today, is one of the

major limitations undermining business competitiveness. Modes of transport like the rail

transport which require constant long term development efforts have been neglected for quite a

very long time. All these considerations did not help the region to get integrated based on the

joint projects developed for long term purposes.

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CHAPTER II : COMMUNUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME : STRATEGIC

GUIDELINES

In view of the many challenges confronting the region, different guidelines and development

strategies have been implemented or are in the process of being formulated both within the

Member States and within the West African region.

2.1 Regional Integration and Development Initiatives

The analysis of the regional context highlights the delay in the development of West Africa in

spite of continuing efforts made towards the acceleration of its development and integration

process.

In fact, the proactive development programmes inspired, to a large extent, by the economic and

political schools of thought at that time, in particular Marxist, socialist and liberal models, were

launched but with different fortunes for most of the African States.

Thus, the post independence euphoria, characterised by relative performances in terms of

economic growth with an average progression of economic activity of about 4,8% for the

ECOWAS region, quickly gave way to uncertainties and difficulties in the 1970’s. Among the

numerous constraints were exogenous factors such as the oil price shocks of 1973 and 1979, the

public debt crises with the high point being the default in payment by Mexico in 1982 as well as

the continued decline in prices of major agricultural raw materials.

The combination of these three factors with the exception of the increase in oil prices for

exporting countries of the region, brought about the immediate backlash of creating difficulties

in payments and public deficits for many of the African countries and the ECOWAS region, the

effect being the implementation of the structural adjustment programme, under the auspices of

the international financial institutions.

After more than twenty years of adjustment and economic programmes in partnership with the

International Financial Institutions22, the results achieved were rather mixed. In spite of the

                                                            22 Ghana started it first adjustment phase in 1983 with the « Economic Recovery Program » whereas Senegal started

its first « Financial and Economic Reform Program » in 1979

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relative weakness of the average growth rate of the regional economy over the period 1980 –

2000, representing 2.2%, significant results were achieved in terms of the gradual restoration of

the major macroeconomic balances.

However, though the last evaluations by the World Bank on the classification of countries

according to their levels of revenue brought five Member states into the frontline (Cape Verde,

Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal) within the category of middle income countries23, ten

(10) Member States continue to show weaker and lower income per capita performances than

those of Sub-Saharan Africa put together.

Thus, the ECOWAS region must continue to face persistent poverty, with the resulting

consequence being continuous uncertainties about the achievement of the MDGs by 2015.

This prospect, coupled with the relative weakness of resource allocation and access to

infrastructure in all the priority areas for the economic and social development, is the

justification for the commitment of ECOWAS (at the regional level) and the Member States (at

the national level) to launch an appropriate response in the form of visions, strategies, projects

and action plans.

2.1.1 At the regional level

ECOWAS has gone to great lengths, in line with its targets stipulated in the founding treaty, to

implement the provisions of the treaty through initiatives in the form of protocols, conventions,

common sectoral policies, regional development strategies, etc.

ECOWAS Protocols and Conventions

The protocols or supplementary protocols, as acts governed by international law, have amended,

complemented or provided clarifications for the ECOWAS treaties of 1975 and 1993.

Conventions, for their part, describe formal declarations of principle which from the onset did

not have the force of law, but are becoming actual international treaties with the force of law

immediately they are ratified.

                                                            23 Lower range, with income per capita higher than 1005 US.dollars

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Status of ratification and entry into force of protocols and conventions

Since its establishment in 1975, the Community has maintained a sustained effort in its

initiatives aimed at removing the barriers to regional integration by adopting protocols and

conventions. On the whole, 42 protocols or supplementary protocols and 11 conventions had

been signed as at 15 August, 2011.

Table 07 : Status of protocols and conventions in force as at 15 August, 2011

Period Number (signed)

Accumulated number (signed)

Cumulative percentage

(signed)

Number (entry into

force)

Accumulated number (entry

into force)

Share (Accumulated number in

force/Accumulated number signed)

1978-1980 6 6 11.3% 2 2 33.3% 1981-1985 12 18 34.0% 10 12 66.7% 1986-1990 8 26 49.1% 11 23 88.5% 1991-1995 6 32 60.4% 4 27 84.4% 1996-2000 4 36 67.9% 7 34 94.4% 2001-2005 11 47 88.7% 9 43 91.5% 2006-2010 6 53 100.0% 6 49 92.5%

Sources: CRES, IGO survey, Department of Macroeconomic policies / CDP Unit/ECOWAS, August, 2011

Though the majority of the protocols have come into force, an average of about 30% of the texts

has not yet been ratified by the Member States. The average however conceals the somewhat

disturbing disparities. Indeed, some Member States had more than 50% non ratification rate as at

15 August, 2011. However, more than half of the Member States have ratified at least three

quarters of the texts signed.

Table 08: Protocols and conventions ratified by the Member States

Signed Ratified Rate (ratified/signed) Rate (not ratified/not signed)

Benin 53 38 71.7% 28.3% Burkina Faso 53 40 75.5% 24.5% Cape Verde 50 24 48.0% 52.0% Cote d'Ivoire 53 29 54.7% 45.3% Gambia 53 41 77.4% 22.6% Ghana 53 43 81.1% 18.9% Guinea 53 38 71.7% 28.3% Guinea Bissau 51 24 47.1% 52.9% Liberia 53 25 47.2% 52.8% Mali 53 42 79.2% 20.8% Niger 53 38 71.7% 28.3% Nigeria 53 40 75.5% 24.5% Senegal 53 42 79.2% 20.8% Sierra Leone 53 42 79.2% 20.8% Togo 53 42 79.2% 20.8%

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Sources: Department of Macroeconomic Policy / CDP Unit/ECOWAS, August, 2011 Implementation of the protocols

In its march towards Economic and Monetary Union, the Community continues to ensure not

only the ratification of the protocols and conventions by the Member States but also the

successful enforcement of its texts without which cooperation among the States would be

difficult to implement in the priority areas.

Governance, democracy, peace and security

In view of the recurrence of socio-political crises, armed conflicts and instability of

constitutionally established regimes, the Community adopted protocol A/SP1/12/01 of 21

December, 2001 on democracy, good governance and supplementary protocol to protocol

A/P1/12/99 of 10 December, 1999, relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention,

management, resolution, maintenance of peace and security which came into effect in February,

2008. This supplementary protocol defines the principles of constitutional convergence,

provisions for the observation of elections, the role of the army and the security agencies in a

democratic dispensation and provisions to promote good governance, the rule of law, the rights

of persons, human development, the fight against poverty and social dialogue.

Based on these protocols, ECOWAS continued with its technical, financial and often military

assistance to Member States for the consolidation of democracy. It also demonstrated firmness

through preventive democracy in partnership with the African Union, the European Union and

the United Nations by its active involvement in conflict resolution and by encouraging the

Member States to take the path of socio-political dialogue and demonstrate respect for the

constitutional provisions with the view to guaranteeing sustainable stability in the region.

Thus, in the field of democracy and good governance, ECOWAS, inter alia, established a

partnership with civil society and media groups and developed a strategy to improve the quality

of their participation in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in nine (9) ECOWAS

Member States which subscribed to it. As part of its operations in support of peace, the

Community developed an ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) as an instrument for conflict

management in the region in line with Article 21 of the Conflict Management Mechanism.

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Free Movement of Persons, the right of residence and establishment

The protocol A/P1/5/75 of 29 May, 1979 on free movement of persons, the right of residence and

establishment aims at abolishing all obstacles to freedom of movement and the right of residence

of ECOWAS citizens within the Community. Towards this end, several supplementary protocols,

decisions and resolutions were adopted to strengthen the provisions of the protocols, in particular

with a view to facilitating the three stages in the transitional period of 15 years:

- Stage 1 : right of entry and abolition of visas

- Stage 2 : right of residence

- Stage 3: right of establishment.

Though there are still obstacles in the effective implementation of these protocols (harassment,

extortion of funds and other violations of the rights of citizens of the Community in their cross

border movements), the Community has made considerable progress in its implementation. The

abolition of visas between ECOWAS Member States is a tangible reality experienced by the

citizens of the Community who enter and leave the territories of Member States on presentation

of documents duly issued by the competent Authorities of the State of origin. Furthermore, an

ECOWAS biometric passport was introduced as a common travel document in the Member

States and 11 countries have so far put them in circulation. The principle of introducing a

biometric identity card has also just been adopted as part of the travel documents for movement

of citizens of the Community within the ECOWAS region. Moreover, the Community has

considered the establishment of monitoring and observation units with the aim of ensuring

effective implementation of the May, 1979 protocol.

Free Movement of goods in the Member States

Article 35 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty made provision for the establishment of a Customs

Union among the Member States of the Community. This customs union is an important stage

for the creation of an ECOWAS Common Market in order to guarantee the free movement of

goods and to enhance the level of intra-community trade. The achievement of the customs union

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must be viewed at two levels: the liberalisation of trade among ECOWAS Member States and

the establishment of a Common External Tariff.

• Implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS)

The ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme is in the process of being implemented and it aims

mainly at liberalising trade through the elimination of customs duties on goods imported and

exported among Member States and to abolish non tariff barriers in order to create a Free Trade

Area.

The operationalisation of the scheme is driven by its entry into force on the date of the signing of

protocols A/P1/1/03 relating to the definition of the notion of products originating in Member

States of the Community and A/P2/1/03 on the implementation of compensation procedures for

loss of revenue incurred by the ECOWAS Member States as a result of the trade liberalisation.

The free movement of homegrown products and traditional crafts from the Member States is a

tangible and observable reality in the region.

In order to remove any barriers to trade liberalisation, direct negotiations with the Member States

have been initiated for the effective implementation of the protocols. Furthermore, ECOWAS

and UEMOA have started a harmonisation of their trade liberalisation schemes in order to

simplify the rules and comply with the international commitments of the Member States. The

harmonisation focused on the rules of origin, approval procedures and compensation systems for

loss of revenue and customs clearance procedures. It is also envisaged that measures would be

taken for the definition of quality standards for industrial products and for the creation of a

solidarity fund to assist the States as part of the liberalisation scheme.

• Establishment of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET)

The customs duty harmonisation process regarding products imported into the Member States

from third countries has made progress following the creation of the ECOWAS Common

External Tariff (CET) by Decision A/DEC.17/01 06 of 12 January, 2006 and the establishment

of a Joint ECOWAS –UEMOA CET Management Committee (JEUCETMC) by Decision

A/DEC.14/01/06.

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The Supplementary Act A/SA.1/06/09, amending Decision A/DEC.17/01 06, adopted a fifth

band bringing to five (5) the categories (0 to 4) of products indicated in the Tariff and Statistical

Nomenclature (NTS).

Major projects on the establishment of the community customs code, customs evaluation system,

the harmonisation of customs regimes and customs exemptions are necessary to accompany the

implementation of the ECOWAS CET. Furthermore, as part of the Economic Partnership

Agreement Negotiations (EPA), the alignment of the market access offer in line with product

classification vis-a-vis the CET is of critical importance. However, the Customs Union will be

completed if the common trade policy is effectively established.

Moreover, the realisation of the Customs Union will have the major effect of reducing the tax

revenue of the Member States as a result of the decline in customs duties. To reduce the losses,

ECOWAS has undertaken a harmonisation drive of domestic taxation with UEMOA and the

Member States. The migration from entry-point taxation to domestic tax revenue is projected as

part of the establishment of a tax transition which also takes into account the effects caused by

the implementation of the EPA once the latter is signed.

Transforming ECOWAS into an Economic and Monetary Union

The success of regional integration will depend on the critical stage of changing the Community

into an Economic Union. According to the programming of the regional integration under the

revised treaty, this Union comes after establishing the Customs Union. Furthermore, it requires

(i) the adoption of a common policy in all socio-economic domains in particular agriculture,

industry, transport, communications, energy and scientific research, (ii) the total elimination of

all barriers to free movement of persons, goods, services and capital as well as the right of

residence and establishment, (iii) the harmonisation of monetary, financial and tax policies, the

creation of a West African Monetary Union , the establishment of a Common Central Bank and

the creation of a single ECOWAS currency.

Most of the joint ECOWAS policies are quite recent for which reason the results of their

implementation have not yet been evaluated.

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Common agricultural policy

Adopted in January, 2005, the overall objective of the ECOWAS regional agricultural policy

(ECOWAP) is to « contribute to meeting the food needs of the population on sustainable basis,

to economic and social development and poverty alleviation in the Member States, and to

inequalities in the territories, zones and countries ».

The action plan of the common agricultural policy, ECOWAP, was aligned with the CAADP of

the African Union so as to attain a 6% annual growth rate in the agricultural sector in every

Member State and an allocation of at least 10% of the national public budgets to the agricultural

sector.

ECOWAS environmental policy

The objectives of the ECOWAS Environmental policy adopted in 2008 are to (i) reverse the state

of degradation of natural resources, (ii) improve the quality of neighbourhood life and living

conditions, (iii) preserve biodiversity to guarantee a sound and productive environment that

enhances the balance of ecosystems and the well-being of the people.

Common Industrial Policy

The vision for the common industrial policy (PICAO), adopted in 2010 is to « develop and

sustain a competitive industrial fabric at the international level that is environmentally friendly

and conducive to the significant improvement of the standard of living of the population by

2030 ». Its principal objective is to speed up industrialisation in West Africa by promoting the

endogenous industrial processing of raw materials, the development and diversification of the

productive capacities and the consolidation of regional integration and export of industrial

products.

ECOWAS mining development policy

The vision for the ECOWAS mining development policy is to be able to exploit the mineral

resource capital in order to facilitate a sustainable economic growth and integrated socio-

economic development of the region. The objective of this policy is to promote the development

of an effective mining sector in the region.

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Harmonisation of macroeconomic policies

The Abuja roadmap for the creation of a single ECOWAS currency was adopted on 25th May,

2009 and it set out the measures to be implemented, particularly, in terms of statistical and

regulatory harmonisation, integration of markets and the launching of the WAMZ currency and

the ECOWAS single currency by 2020.

The multilateral surveillance mechanism adopted by Decision A/DEC.17/12/01 on the creation

of a multilateral surveillance mechanism of economic and financial policies of ECOWAS

Member States could not become operational as a result of the lack of important linkages, in

particular the national economic and financial policy coordination committees of the Member

States which could be established by some States only in 2010. The arrangement was completed

in 2012 by the adoption of the Convergence and Stability Pact between the Member States and a

guide for the formulation of the multi-year Convergence programmes of the countries. This

convergence Pact is a formal commitment by the ECOWAS Member States to (i) ensure

economic policy coordination, (ii) strengthen the performance of macroeconomic management

of the economies of Member States, (iii) consolidate macroeconomic stability, and (iv)

consolidate monetary cooperation. The other initiatives for the harmonisation are being

implemented and should be completed latest by the end of 2014, as indicated in the roadmap.

In fact, the roadmap for the creation of a single ECOWAS currency projected the launch of the

Eco, the WAMZ currency by 2015, then the creation of the single currency and the takeoff of the

common ECOWAS Central Bank by 2020.

Other ECOWAS regional sectoral policies

Several other ECOWAS common policies are ongoing towards the formulation of an appropriate

response to the requirements for establishing an Economic Union. These concern, inter alia, the

regional policy on science and technology (ECOPOST), the regional health policy, the regional

energy policy, etc.

Major regional development initiatives

UEMOA Regional Economic Programme (PER)

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The UEMOA Regional Economic Policy (PER), developed jointly by the UEMOA

Commission, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) and the West African

Development Bank (BOAD), is in consonance with the Vision to « make the Union (UEMOA),

a unified and open environment for the benefit of the population ». Its objective is to enhance

growth in the UEMOA Member States, alleviate poverty and curb the spread of the pandemics

which are having a huge toll on social and economic development of the region.

After the implementation of the 2006-2010 PER, UEMOA achieved physical and financial

implementation rates of 45% and 54% respectively, thus leading to the formulation of the

second phase of the PER covering the period 2012-2016. The focus of the latter programme is to

undertake projects leading to the building of a competitive regional environment conducive to

attracting public and private investment inflows towards growth drivers and to have a significant

impact on poverty, and also provide a response to the socio-economic challenges currently

confronting UEMOA.

Regional Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (RPRSP)

As a result of the joint initiative taken by ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions, the PRRSP was

developed to head off the transnational dimensions of poverty issues which were not factored

into the National Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.

To ensure that it becomes operational, the RPRSP defined the priority pillars based on their

potentially targeted impact on growth, poverty alleviation and development.

West African Power Pool (WAPP)

The countries of the region view development of energy as the cornerstone for economic

development and poverty alleviation. It is against this background that ECOWAS created a

specialised body for Power Pool in West Africa (WAPP) whose role is to promote regional

investments for the production of electric power and interconnection of networks. This body is

managed by a coordinating structure consisting of Ministers of Energy and Directors-General of

electricity companies of the Member countries.

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The West African Power Pool (WAPP) programme developed by the WAPP is aimed at meeting

the needs of the region in respect of electricity access and development of electricity

infrastructure.

To this end, the WAPP designed a document in two volumes “Actualisation of the ECOWAS

Revised Master Plan on Mechanisms for the Production and Transmission of Electric Energy”.

These documents present a detailed inventory of the means of production, transmission networks

and demand for electric power and propose an optimal production, transmission and technical

analysis plan. It also presents a classification of priority projects and provides the final priority

investment programme as well as the strategy for the implementation of the projects.

The EPA Development Programme (EPADP)

The EPA Development Programme (EPADP) encompasses the EPA development component. It

takes into account aspects on economic compensation for the loss of revenue attributable to the

establishment of the Free Trade Area with the European Union. Finally, the programme is

intended to create a regional market and assist the West African region to fully take advantage of

the opportunities offered by the EPA and to minimise the negative effects of the agreement.

On the whole, with the exception of the UEMOA PER which went through its first phase of

implementation over the period 2006-2010 and whose evaluation enabled lessons to be drawn

for the design of the second phase of the UEMOA PER II, the other initiatives, in particular the

RPRSP and the EPADP have not yet been implemented.

These different regional initiatives have been complemented, made operational or even been

enriched by the strategies implemented or being formulated in the countries.

The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)

The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) is a joint initiative of the

African Union (AUC), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, which has become the

Coordination and Planning Agency for NEPAD, and the African Development Bank (ADB). The

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PIDA should be the African programme for regional/continental projects in the transport, energy,

information technology and communication (ICT) sectors and the management of cross border

water resources (GRET). The implementation of the programme is sequential. The short term is

scheduled for 2020, the medium term 2030 and the long term 2040. The ICT sector has a

different sequencing. The short, medium and long term plans are 2012, 2015 and 2020

respectively. The PIDA consists of a Priority Action Plan (PAP) up to 2020 and it is supported as

part of the strategic framework and institutional architecture.

Graph 11 : West African Component of PIDA

Source : PIDA / AU On the whole, 34 projects have already been developed with 17 of them being in the transport sector, 7 in the energy sector, 7 in the water resources management sector and 3 in the information and communication technology sector.

The total cost of the Priority Action Plan (PAP) of the PIDA is 40 billion UD dollars over a

period of 7 years, representing 6 billion UD dollars per annum. This amount was 0.2% of GDP

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of the continent in 2011 or 1% of the total budget of countries or yet still 5% of the investment

budget of the countries.

2.1.2 At the National Level

After gaining political independence, the Member States initiated ambitious development

strategies to provide national answers to post-independence challenges such as lack of

infrastructure and low level of economic and social development.

The mixed results from these initial development initiatives, to a large extent, proactive ones

carried out for two decades, from 1960 to 1970 led to the implementation of development

programmes in collaboration with international organisations such as the IMF and the World

Bank.

Thus, moving from the initial structural adjustment programmes characterised by harsh effects

on the population through the last stages of poverty reduction and/or growth, most of the States

were able to consolidate their overall macroeconomic framework without however making any

decisive progress in alleviating poverty.

It is against this background that the various initiatives were developed, from the long term

vision, medium term planning instrument, to short term programmes presented in

simplified format in Graph 12, and implemented by the Member States to achieve their

sustainable economic and social development objectives:

Graph 12 : Short and Medium Term Planning Instrument

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Sources : Department of Macroeconomic Policy/ CDP Unit/ECOWAS, August, 2011

Benin

The country embarked on Alafia Benin Vision 2025: « By 2025, Benin will be a beacon, a united

and peaceful country effectively governed, economically prosperous and competitive, culturally

brilliant and marked by social well-being ». At this point, the key questions selected for this

exercise are:

How can democracy and good governance be consolidated?

How can the quality of life of the people be improved to ensure social well-being?

How can the national productive system be modernised?

The following targets were set as a response to these key questions:

- Entrench democracy and good governance ;

- Improve the quality of life of the population ;

- Modernise the national productive system.

For purposes of implementation, the strategic vision was expressed in Strategic Development

Guidelines (SDG) as part of the Growth Strategy for Poverty Reduction (GSPR). The GSPR is

outlined over a five-year period (GSPR 2011-2015).

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The operationalisation of the GSPR is founded on the Priority Action Plan (PAP). This

Programme traces back all the investments and priority actions resulting from the operational

priorities of the strategy in the form of projects and programmes. It comes to strengthen the

programme-budgets for every sector. It serves as a link between the GSRP and the programme-

budgets on the one hand, and the strategy and annual budget of the State which is the main

instrument for implementing the strategy on the other.

Burkina Faso

The country placed its long term development agenda under the « Burkina Vision 2025: Burkina

Faso, a united, progressive and a just nation which is consolidating its respect on the

international scene ».

The country had previously experimented a planning process based initially on five-year

development plans over the period 1983 to 1990. The structural adjustment programme phase

came after the period from 1991 to 2000, followed by the implementation of the poverty

reduction strategic framework from 2000 to 2010.

The implementation of the « Burkina Vision 2025 » is carried out under the SCADD by way of

five-yearly programme tranches with the first programme covering the period: 2011-2015.

The implementation of the SCADD since 2011 is based on an institutional arrangement tested by

the previous strategies, in particular by the Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (2000-2010).

In this regard, it must be noted that there is a chronogramme for the mobilisation of financial

resources and sector-based action plans linked to priority actions of the strategy factored into the

national budgetary implementation instruments.

Cape Verde

The country outlined its medium-term development objectives and the following implementation

instruments over a medium-term framework:

- The broad outlines of the plan (GOP) ;

- Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (DSCRP) ;

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- National Development Plan (PND) ;

- Sectoral Strategic Plans (Agriculture, Tourism, Fisheries, Infrastructure and Private Sector

Development)

These different instruments were implemented within the context of a monitoring and evaluation

mechanism involving competent Government structures, in particular the National Planning

Directorate covering an implementation period of five (5) years.

Côte d’Ivoire

The National Prospective Study-CI 2025, developed in 1993, expressed the desired future vision

of the country. This vision was based on the major aspirations of the Ivorian people.

However, in view of the changes that occurred in the socio-political, domestic and international

economy, the Vision was changed into a National Development Plan (PND) which aims at

making Côte d’Ivoire an emerging country by 2020.

To attain their objective, the country designed a national action strategy based essentially on

three (3) strategic policy documents: (i) the National Prospective Study Côte d’Ivoire 2025, (ii)

the Poverty Reduction Strategy Document, (iii) the Strategic Policy Document on Government

Action.

Based on this, the national development strategy of Côte d’Ivoire was outlined into eight (8)

major priority areas broken down into sub-areas or programmes, then into priority actions with

the implementation factored into the government’s short-term and annual planning and

implementation instruments.

The Gambia

From 1996, the country began to outline a socio-economic development strategy aimed at

transforming the Gambia into a dynamic middle-income economy by 2020.

In this regard, the country experienced the structural adjustment programmes from 1994 to 1999.

From 2003, it undertook the poverty reduction strategy programme (PRSP 1 « 2003 – 2005 » and

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PRSP 2 « 2007 – 2011 »). The mid-term review of the PRSP 2 in 2009 helped to identify the

strengths and weaknesses, the threats as well as the opportunities to achieve the millennium

development goals (MDGs) but also the objectives of vision 2020.

The review also established the identification of the new strategy over the period 2012 - 2020

which aims at achieving the vision 2020 objectives.

Thus, in 2012, the Programme dubbed « PAGE », Programme for the acceleration of growth and

employment came on-stream. It was planned in two phases: « PAGE 1 » from 2012 – 2015 and

« PAGE 2 » from 2016 to 2020.

Ghana

The country started off from challenges that needed to be addressed, particularly inadequate

planning and implementation plans for strategies, youth unemployment, low level of internal

resource mobilisation and of human development as well as the high incidence of poverty. For

the above-mentioned reasons, the country adopted a Development Vision captured in the

following terms:

« Becoming a just, free and prosperous society in which citizens will have the opportunity to

benefit from life and decent incomes »

The overall objective of the Vision was to achieve macroeconomic stability and put the economy

on the path of strong growth with the view to attaining an income per capita of at least 3000 US

dollars by 2020 and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. »

This vision and its related objectives were implemented as part of a process of coordination and

implementation involving the government, parliament, regional coordination committees, local

government authorities, the private sector, development partners, the media, civil society and

research institutions. A triennial programming framework was also implemented through the

Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

Guinea Bissau

The country is a typical example of a young country with huge natural resources but confronted

with enormous problems that constitute a barrier to its economic take-off. The country has gone

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through a great deal of politico-military upheavals with the most crucial being the 1998 conflict

which destroyed all the country’s infrastructure.

In terms of economic and social development strategy, within the same period, the country

outlined its development vision with the strategy code-named Djitu ten (meaning “it is possible”

in the vernacular) in 1997. Unfortunately, the relevant guidelines mapped out in this plan were

not given the needed time to go through its implementation process as a result of the outbreak of

the 1998 war. Consequently, the DENARP or the poverty reduction strategy document was

initiated in 2004 simultaneously as other sectoral programmes such as the agricultural policy

letter and the rehabilitation and development project of the private sector. They all had mixed

fortunes and crumbled under the weight of institutional instability over the decade from 1998 to

2008.

With regard to the DENARP (translation into Portuguese of the Poverty Reduction Strategy

Paper) of Guinea Bissau, like the PRSP of other countries in the sub-region, it was a framework

document which outlined the strategy for the country to address human development challenges

as specified in the MDGs reference framework. It is based on the options made by Bissau-

Guineans in the long term Prospective Study Djitu ten and contains the strategic choices of

Guinea-Bissau to alleviate poverty and initiate sustainable development. In actual fact, its

timeframe of three years 2006-2008, makes it almost the guiding instrument for the economic

policy of the country.

By adopting a medium-term strategic plan, the country moved from the DENARP 1 (2006-2008)

to DENARP 2 over the period « 2011 – 2015 ».

Guinea

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In terms of development strategy, the country embarked on a liberalisation and economic

transformation process from 1985 to 1999 which yielded promising results as it achieved an

average growth rate of 4.3% per annum. Between 2000 and 2010, Guinea went through a

recurrent political instability leading to the suspension of external assistance. As a result of the

socio-political stability rediscovered at the end of 2010, and the subsequent gradual improvement

of the business environment, the new government designed a five-year socio-economic

development plan covering the period 2011-2015. This plan falls within the strategic framework

dubbed Guinea Vision 2035 being developed and it is intended to speed up the economic and

social development of Guinea and for the country to embark on a path that will make it possible

to achieve the pre-requisites for the country to join the comity of emerging countries in the

coming years.

In specific terms, the country is implementing three key development strategies while waiting to

give some substance to Vision 2035 being developed : documents : i) the Five-year Plan 2011-

2015, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP 3, 2011-2012) and the Multi-year Public

Investment Programming (PIP 2012-2014).

These different strategies provide the strategic guidelines for the next five years regarding

economic, financial, social and demographic issues. It outlines the policies to ensure the

stabilisation of the national economy and to fast track growth.

Liberia

The country embarked on the consolidation phase of its recovery in the aftermath of the major

political and military conflicts at the end of the 1990’s and at the beginning of the decade of

2000s.

The country developed a long-term strategy dubbed “Strategic Development Plan for Liberia

2030”.

The overall objective of this long term strategy outlined under the banner “Sustainable peace,

growth and economic development through employment creation and poverty reduction”, is

consistent with the results targeted in the ex post monitoring framework by the IMF in October

2010 under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative of Liberia.

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In the context of the method of mapping out the development strategies, a provisional

programme was adopted for the period June 2011 to March 2012, followed by a medium-term

growth programme over a three-year period. Broad consultations were held across the country

with the option of establishing synergy among all the challenges relating to agriculture, the

forest, education, employment, health, transport, sanitation, security and the stability of foreign

investments.

An institutional monitoring and evaluation scheme for the programme was put in place with the

establishment of a Steering Committee comprising the government, development partners, a

technical secretariat, working groups on the various pillars, consultative forums of stakeholders

in civil society, the private sector, donors and a public consultative mechanism.

Mali

The country has adopted three major political guidelines since its accession to political

independence in 1960:1960 -1980: Development Strategies consistent with five year plans; 1980

- 2000: Structural Adjustment Policy and 2000 to contemporary times: Poverty Reduction

Policy.

Following the relative failure of the different plans and structural adjustment policies, a national

prospective study for 2025 was initiated aimed at alleviating poverty in fulfilment of a national

Vision dubbed, Mali Vision 2025.

The country decided to make the Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (CSLP) the single

reference plan for operationalising the Mali « Vision 2025 ».

The first CSLP (2002 – 2006) set the target of achieving a poverty reduction from 63.8% in 2001

to 47.5% in 2006 and to maintain GDP growth rate at an average of 6.7% over the period 2002-

2006.

At the end of the first phase of the CSLP, the achievement of these targets was impeded by a

number of unforeseen shocks which were not factored into the underlying assumptions. They

are, among others, the Ivorian crisis dating from 2002 and the locust invasion in 2004.

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A second CSLP II (2007 – 2011) followed and confirmed growth targets of 7% and a 5%

poverty reduction over the period from the strategic guidelines based on i) the Development

of the productive sector ; ii) Continuation of structural reforms and iii) the Consolidation of the

social sector.

The implementation process of the CSLP programmes is coordinated by a dedicated Technical

Unit; an annual review is carried out by the participation of all national stakeholders and

technical and financial partners.

Niger

The country faced a persistent economic and financial crisis in the decade from 1980 to 1990,

mainly due to a number of factors including the worsening terms of trade and the continued

decline in uranium prices (major export product), the low level of competitiveness of the

Nigerien economy, recurrent drought, the low level of investment and national savings as well

as the ineffective economic management, illustrated in particular by the lack of rigour in the

management of public finances.

The country then recorded a low level of annual average economic growth rate of 2.9% over the

period 1990 – 2005, in spite of the implementation of the successive structural adjustment

programmes from the 1990’s.

Confronted with the persistent challenge of under-development, the country initiated a poverty

reduction strategy from 2002. It therefore concluded two economic and financial recovery

programmes with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the periods 2000-2003 and 2005-

2007. Over the same period, the country attained the completion point of the HIPC in April

2004, enabling the country to obtain substantial reliefs of its foreign debt burden.

However, these efforts are inadequate to ensure that poverty concerns are significantly and

rapidly addressed. Indeed, it has always remained high (62.1% in 2005 as against 63% in 1993).

It is in the light of the foregoing that Niger aligned its Accelerated Development Strategy and

Poverty Reduction (SDRP) 2008-2012 to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in line

with its international commitments.

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Nigeria

The country developed a long and wide-ranging experience in strategic planning and

development. Thus, immediately after the Second World War, Nigeria launched a ten-year

development and welfare plan in 1945 -1946. Regional plans followed over the period from 1951

to 1961. Afterwards, the country implemented 4 national development plans over the periods

« 1962-1968; 1970-1974; 1975-1980; 1981-1985. Between 1986 and 1989, a Structural

Adjustment Programme (SAP) was initiated, followed by a rolling plan covering the period from

1990 to 1998, with the launching of a first Vision 2010 between 1996 and 1997. From 1999 to

2003, a programme inventory and repositioning was embarked upon followed by a programme

from 2004-2007 code-named « Home Grown Reform Programme (National Economic

Empowerment and Development Strategy - NEEDS), which entered its second phase during the

same period with (NEEDS 2), then to a programme dubbed « 7-Point Agenda » culminating in a

major ongoing programme which will be the reference framework for the development strategy

of the country , that is VISION 20 : 2020.

In terms of performance, the growth analysis carried out shows that over the pre-adjustment

period between 1982 and 1985, an annual average of 0.3% decline in production was noted. By

contrast, during the adjustment and liberalisation period from 1986 to 1993, an average annual

progression of 4.1% was recorded. A slowdown in activity was observed over the period from

1994 to 1998, with an average increase of 2.5%. From 1999, the economy of the country went

into a sustained growth phase with an annual average turnout of 8%, reflecting in sectors of

activity with the exception of the oil sector marked by poor performance due to the disturbances

in the production sector by activists in the Delta region.

The ongoing development strategy being implemented is intended to consolidate the results to

enable the country to go through the decisive stages on the road to economic and social

development by placing Nigeria in the twentieth position in the global rankings by 2020.

This Vision is built on the assumption of an annual average growth rate of 13,8% over the period

2010-2020, with a projection of an income per capita of 4,000 US dollars by 2020.

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The implementation of the strategy NV20: 2020 will be linked to three medium term plans and

the annual budget. In this regard, three implementation plans are projected: the First

Implementation Plan (NIP « 2010 – 2013 »); the Second Implementation Plan (NIP 2 « 2014 -

2017 ») and the Third Implementation Plan (NIP 3 « 2018 -2020 »).

Senegal

Between 1960 and 1980, the economic and social situation of the country was characterised by

periods of upturns and downturns linked to the erratic behaviour of agricultural production and

prices of exports (groundnut and phosphate). In addition to these trends are the huge public

expenditures as a result of poor planning and less judicious choices in terms of public

investments and budgetary expenditure as well as the oil crises and the drought of the 1970’s.

In this regard, the practice of five-year development plans after political independence in 1960

gave way to the adoption of successive economic and financial programmes under the auspices

of the IMF with the first plan being the 1979 economic and financial recovery plan. The

fundamental objectives of these programmes were to restore the major macroeconomic and

financial balances, curb inflation and achieve a healthy and sustainable economic growth.

From the year 2000, new strategies that prioritise poverty alleviation and later growth were

initiated as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) « version 1: 2003-2005 and

version 2:2006-2010».

It was against this background that the country embarked on a new Vision « Senegal 2035:

Emerging in solidarity ».

The implementation of the Vision will be carried out over the period to 2015 by using the

Economic and Social Policy Paper (2011-2015).The implementation strategy for this vision is

intended to achieve a macroeconomic plan with an average economic growth rate of between 6%

and 7% over the period 2011- 2015 by focusing on the pre-requisites necessary to take

advantage of investment opportunities, resist external shocks and address the challenges in order

to establish a socio-economic and political environment for the achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) and good governance.

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Sierra Leone

The country experienced diverging economic and political developments which can be sub-

divided into a first period, that is a promising post-independence era (1962-1980), followed by

a period of economic decline between 1981 and 1990, worsened by the civil war between 1991

and 2001. The latter two periods identified are made up of a transition phase between 2002 and

2005 and a period of sustainable growth and development since 2006.

In terms of development strategies, the country experienced its first Interim Poverty Reduction

Strategy Paper in June, 2001.

The National Recovery Strategy (NRS) was then adopted in 2002 with the priority given to the

restoration of the authority of the State in the liberated zones, the facilitation of the resettlement

and reintegration of the population as we as the promotion and recovery of activities of the

resettled communities.

From 2003, the country initiated Vision 2025 « Sweet SALONE » or « douce Salone ».

The implementation of this strategy enabled the country to achieve important results; reaching

the decision point of the HIPC Initiative in December 2006 and achieving a 7% annual average

growth rate over the period from 2003 to 2005.

Subsequently, the country launched the poverty reduction strategy over the period 2005-2007, a

strategy aligned to the Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2025.

The last initiative in terms of development strategy for the implementation of the Vision is the

Agenda for Change ‘2008-2012’. The priorities of this agenda are to: i) strengthen the electricity

sector, develop the road network, consolidate agricultural and fishery productivity and achieve

sustainable human development. It is also expected that promising results emerging from this

strategy will also culminate in the attainment of the Vision 2025 and in the establishment of a

conducive environment for monitoring-evaluation involving all stakeholders with the external

partners providing assistance.

Togo

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A review of the major documents on national and sectoral strategies of Togo highlights the fact

that with the exception of the education sector reform programme projected up to 2020; Togo

does not yet have any strategic document targeted at 2020. Also, the development strategy of

Togo is structured around the National Development Strategy Paper which serves as the basis

and it is tailored to the MDGs scheduled to be realised by 2015.

In retrospect, the first national development strategy took off in 1966 as part of a two decade

planning framework designed to bring Togo to the threshold of an economic take-off by 1985.

This plan was sub-divided into four five-yearly plans (1966-1970); (1971-1975); (1976-1980)

and (1981-1985).

The financial difficulties faced by the country from 1981 onwards, in particular, the fall in prices,

the increase in imports due to investment projects being undertaken which, in many cases, turned

out to be less prudent choices, led Togo to conclude financial stabilisation programmes and

much later structural adjustment programmes intended to redefine the development orientations

and improve the functioning of the economy. This turnaround was followed in 1984 by rolling

out triennial programmes leading to the structural adjustment programmes from 1984 to 1988.

Togo went through four structural adjustment programmes (1983-1985), (1986-1988), (1988-

1990), (1990-1992) and an adjustment and economic recovery programme, PARE (1993-1995).

The implementation of the latter programme was beset with lots of problems due to the political

and economic upheavals which rocked the country from 1990 resulting in the suspension of

international cooperation in 1992, followed by the absence of a programme with the BRETTON

WOODS institutions. This long socio-political crisis which lasted until 2008 led to the economic

and financial decline of the country. It is against this background that from February 2001, the

country embarked on the formulation of its Poverty Reduction Strategy and later, a national

development strategy to give substance to its development strategy targeted for 2015.

The main objective of the National Development Strategy (SND) is to provide Togo with a long

term national development strategy focused on the MDGs.

With regard to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), formulated in June, 2009, it is the

first stage in operationalising the National Development Strategy targeted for 2015 and it

proposes a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy for the determination of the strategic pillars

and axes to be put in place to achieve the ultimate objectives.

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Beyond these different initiatives, it is also important to analyse their role alongside other

stakeholders like non-State actors and development partners in the integration and regional

development process.

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Table 09: Summary of Visions and Strategies of ECOWAS countries

Countries

Long term Visions Horizon

Strategies / Medium Term Implementation Instruments

Heading Horizon Heading Horizon/ Period Benin BENIN 2025

Alafia 2025 Growth Strategy for Poverty Reduction 2011-2015

Burkina Faso

Vision Burkina 2025

2025 Accelerated Growth Strategy and Sustainable Development (SCADD)

Cape Verde

N/A Broad Guidelines of the Growth Strategy and Poverty Reduction Plan. National Development Plan

Côte d’Ivoire

National Development Plan

2020 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper / Strategic Guideline Paper for Government Action

Gambia Vision 2020 2020 Programme for the Acceleration of Growth and Employment (PAGE)

PAGE 1 : 2012-2015 PAGE 2 : 2016-2020

Ghana Vision 2020 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework

Guinea Bissau

N/A Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (DENARP)

DENARP 1 :2006-2008 DENARP 2 :2011-2015

Guinea N/A Five-year Plan / Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

Five-year Plan 2011-1015/PRSP3 : 2011-2012

Liberia Strategic Development Plan, Liberia

2030 National Medium Term Growth Programme

2012 - 2015

Mali Mali 2025 2025 Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework

2007 -2011

Niger N/A Poverty Reduction Strategy 2008 - 2012

Nigeria Vision 20 : 2020

2020 Medium Term Plan (NIP) NIP 1 :2010-2013 NIP 2 : 2014-2017 NIP 3 : 2018-2020

Senegal Senegal 2035 2035 Economic and Social Policy Document 2011 - 2015 Sierra Leone

Sweet Leone 2025 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper/ Agenda for Change

2008 - 2012

Togo N/A National Development Strategy Document/ Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

2015

Source : Department of Macroeconomic Policy/ CDP Unit/ECOWAS, August, 2011

It can be seen from the summary table that ten (10) Member States have adopted and embarked

on the implementation of long term development visions targeting 2020 (4 countries) ; 2025 (4

countries), 2030 (1 country) and 2035 (1 country) aimed at addressing the challenges of low

level economic and social development which the region continues to face.

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2.2 Objectives and processes of formulating the CDP

After outlining the Vision 2020, the Authority of Heads of State and Government instructed the

ECOWAS Commission to brainstorm, as a short term measure with the aim of formulating a

Community Development Programme (CDP), among others, which will translate the

achievement of Vision 2020 into concrete projects within a consistent framework.

To this end, the CDP seeks to achieve the following objectives:

2.2.1 Objectives of the CDP

General objective

The CDP is intended to build a competitive, viable and secure regional economic union with

increased participation of the people in the integration process.

Specific objectives

- Ensure an effective participation of the people of West Africa in regional integration with a

view to guaranteeing them a better ownership of the process;

- Promote a strong economic growth, geared towards employment creation and sustainable

development in the ECOWAS region;

- Establish a business friendly environment characterised by good governance, the rule of law

peace and security;

- Work eventually towards the creation of a competitive, viable and secure Regional Economic

Union with national economies harmoniously integrated at the regional level and fitting

seamlessly into the global economy.

2.2.2 Approach and Formulation Process

Graph 13: Inclusive approach and participatory

 Inclusive Approach and Participation 

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Source: Department of Macroeconomic Policy/CDP Unit/ ECOWAS, August, 2011

In carrying out these objectives, the formulation of the CDP was based on an innovative

approach and process through:

A consistent, participatory and inclusive formulation process

 

 

  Countries 

IGO 

NSA 

TFP 

Six guiding principles:

Experience          Subsidiarity  

 Collegiality                Complementarity       

Solidarity           Coherence 

Sensitisation, Capacity building 

National and regional Inventories of projects and programmes 

Prioritisation  and Impact analysis 

Round table for financing 

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The CDP establishes a consistent ECOWAS programme framework, in addition to development

programmes steered by other institutions of the Region, which programmes include particularly

the UEMOA Regional Economic Programme (PER) with the involvement of all stakeholders,

namely the Member States, the IGOs and non-State actors.

Six guiding principles adapted to the pre-requisites of regional integration

i) Experience. The aim will be to draw from West African experiences in the process of

formulating development programmes, with particular regard to major programmes of the

Region such as the UEMOA Regional Economic Programme (PER) , the ECOWAS

Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), etc.;

ii) Subsidiarity. It is intended to identify all stakeholders with specific competencies and

comparative advantages in their operational areas and assign them tasks relating to their

specialised fields of endeavour.

iii) Collegiality. The purpose is to seek the participation of all stakeholders in designing the

CDP and the ownership of the process by these parties within the framework of collegiality;

iv) Complementarity. The purpose is to adequately exploit complementarities of economies of

the Member States within the context of this principle ;

v) Solidarity. This principle aims at ensuring social and policy cohesion through assistance

and redistribution for the benefit of the most marginalised groups of people and communities

in order to gradually eliminate the disparities;

vi) Consistency. The purpose is to ensure that ongoing projects in the sub-region are identified

and consistency established among them on all sides by using the CDP strategic guidelines.

The formulation stages shared and owned by the relevant stakeholders

The modalities for the formulation of the CDP became the subject of broad consultations with

key stakeholders involved in the process. These discussions enabled the Region to validate the

formulation process in four stages:

i) Sensitisation and capacity building ;

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ii) Inventory of existing programmes and funding;

iii) Prioritisation, planning and impact assessment ;

iv) Donors’ round tables.

Sensitisation and capacity building

This stage first of all consisted of establishing the institutional anchor of the programme through

the creation of various bodies to facilitate the CDP formulation process, particularly the Internal

Technical Committee (CTI) at the ECOWAS Commission, the National CDP Committees (NC-

CDP) in the Member States and the Regional Consultative Committee at the Regional level. A

lot of emphasis was laid on the involvement of non-State actors, in particular, civil society, the

private sector and research centres at the national and regional levels. Afterwards, the strategic

pillars for the formulation of the CDP were identified based on the Vision of the Heads of State.

The sensitisation consisted of seeking the consent of all stakeholders in the process and

popularising the Vision 2020 and the strategic pillars. To this end, different bodies were created

to facilitate the CDP formulation process, particularly the Internal Technical Committee (ITC) at

the ECOWAS Commission, the National CDP Committees (NC-CDP) in the Member States and

the Regional Consultative Committees (RCC) at the Regional level. Greater emphasis was put on

the involvement of non-State actors, particularly members of civil society, and the private sector

and research bodies at both national and regional levels.

A last component of this phase centred on capacity building of the stakeholders vis-a-vis the

selection tools, prioritisation, programming and impact assessment using the T21 model.

Inventory of existing Programmes

One of the objectives of formulating the CDP is to establish, inter alia, consistency between

existing programmes in the ECOWAS region, and to align them with the strategic pillars of the

CDP. A first aspect of this stage was to take stock of national programmes that form part of the

CDP. A second aspect was to identify all the programmes steered by Departments at the

ECOWAS Commission. A third aspect focused on taking stock of all programmes managed by

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other inter-governmental organisations of the Region. These two aspects were discussed at the

meeting dubbed « Regional Study on Inventory and Prioritisation ».

Prioritisation, Planning and Impact Assessment

Once all the existing programmes are identified and potential complementary programmes

outlined, the aim will be to prioritise them ensuring their consistency with Vision 2020, the

strategic pillars and the priority areas selected.

The prioritisation of the programmes and projects should culminate in a strategic plan (10 years)

and an operational plan (5 years) for implementation; all of them must be specified in a log

frame.

The operational plan, in particular, must indicate the activities to be implemented over a five-

year (5) period, with a budget and institutions responsible for them and the countries/

organisations involved.

Furthermore, the operational plan should include an impact study on growth and well-being of

the people of the ECOWAS region, in addition to the institutional and organisational framework.

During the entire phase, the impact assessment and simulation tool was developed and owned

both by the Member States (with T21 country models) and the regional actors (with the T21

aggregate model).

Donors’ round table and funding

At this funding stage, the CDP compact will be presented to all potential donors in the Region

and outside the region, particularly to the regional private sector, the funding institutions in the

region, and the development partners involved. The objective of this activity will be to first of all

assure the potential donors about the consistent management of the process and to solicit their

contributions in order to mobilise the necessary financial resources for the implementation of the

CDP and the different projects selected.

2.3 Priority Areas and Strategic Axes of the CDP

Graph 14 : Vision, Priority Areas and Strategic Axes of the CDP

ECOWAS VISION 2020

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Dans

In their approach, the different stakeholders of the CDP adopted ten strategic axes in February 2009, and later presented them in four priority areas.

- Priority area 1: Integration of peoples, governance and human development;

- Priority area 2: Consolidation of economic integration;

- Priority area 3: Development of infrastructure and wealth creation

- Priority area 4: Cooperation and financing.

Strategic objectives of the CDP and overall consistency of the priority areas

The objectives of Vision 2020 focus fundamentally on the deepening of regional integration. To

this end, the long term regional development strategy of the CDP which is based on four major

priority areas, must as a matter of course, strengthen regional integration, sustainably address

CDP

Integration of peoples, governance and human development  

Consolidation of economic integration 

Development of infrastructure and wealth creation  

Cooperation and financing 

4 PRIORITY AREAS

1 7 

2 2  8  43  5  6  10 9 

10 STRATEGIC PILLARS

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structural weaknesses of the region and reinvigorate the sources of sustainable development of

ECOWAS.

The definition of the four priority areas of the CDP falls in line with the objective of regrouping

the projects into homogenous blocs so as to produce an induction effect from one bloc to the

other.

Strategic objectives of priority area 1 As a reminder, priority area 1 (PA1) refers to « Integration of peoples, governance and human

development » which consists of strategic axes SA1 « Integration of peoples », SA2a « Enhanced

cooperation among the States (at the political level) » and SA3 « human development».

The strategic objectives for project implementation under this priority area are to : (i) consolidate

or create the conditions for an overall stability of the Region by speeding up the establishment of

good institutions (SA1), (ii) change the people into real agents of regional integration and

development of the Community (SO2), and (iii) significantly improve overall productivity of the

labour factor by focusing on investment at the regional level in a sector as strategic as human

development (SO3).

Strategic objectives of priority area 2 Priority area 2 (PA 2) relating to the deepening of economic integration focuses on strategic axes

(SA2b) « Enhanced economic cooperation among the States » and (SA 7) « monetary and

financial integration».

The projects to be retained in this area aim essentially at carrying out the following strategic

objectives : (i) Accelerate the harmonisation of policies, legislation, codes, procedures and

practices necessary for the rapid achievement of macroeconomic convergence of the Member

States (SO4), (ii) Promote the emergence of a stable and effective regional banking and financial

system to enhance the financing of the economy and guarantee the conditions for strong

sustainable growth (SO5), (iii) Accelerate all the reforms earmarked under the programme for

the creation of a single currency and comply with the calendar for instituting all the mechanisms,

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instruments and arrangements in order to culminate in the official launch of the single currency

by 2020 (SO6).

Strategic objectives of priority area 3 Priority area 3 « Development of infrastructure and wealth creation » is the broadest area

comprising six strategic axes of the CDP, namely (SA3) « common agricultural and industrial

policies », (SP4) « interconnection of transport infrastructure », (SA5) « interconnection of

telecommunications and ICT, (SA6) « interconnection of energy and water resources, (SA9)

« research -development and innovation» and (SA10) « environment and natural resources ».

The effective implementation of projects in this priority area intrinsically depends on a stable,

enabling and business-friendly socio-political and economic environment. These projects have

been selected to address four (4) strategic objectives. In the first place, the development of

adequate and qualitative infrastructure at the regional level must be intensified in the transport,

telecommunications, ICT, energy and water sectors to accelerate the process of attaining the

regional integration objectives and revitalise the wealth creation initiatives and the human

development of the Member States (SO7).

Strategic objectives of priority area 4

Priority area 4 « cooperation and financing » will encompass actions aimed at promoting

cooperation between ECOWAS and its technical and financial partners both within and outside

the region. The strategic objectives in this priority area can be viewed at two levels. On the one

hand, there is the need to base the cooperation relations with partners on the sharing of

experiences in terms of development, technical assistance and direct or indirect financing of

projects for an effective and efficient implementation of the CDP (SO12). On the other hand, the

purpose is to develop an overall financing strategy to make the CDP achievable (SO13).

The following table is a summary of the priority Areas, the strategic axes and the priority actions

proposed for the realisation of the long term objectives of the CDP development strategy:

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Table 10 : Priority Areas, Strategic pillars and Priority Actions of the CDP Priority Areas Strategic Axes Priority Actions

Priority Area 1 : Integration of peoples, governance and human development

Axis 1 : Integration of peoples

• Participation and involvement of non-State actors • Promotion of official and local languages • Promotion of cultural exchanges and dialogue • Free movement of persons • Promotion of community information media

Axis 2 : Enhanced cooperation with the States

• Promotion of good governance and the rule of law • Consolidation of Democracy • Conflict prevention and resolution • Maintenance of peace and collaboration in matters of defence and

security

Axis 8 : Human development

• Education • Health and nutrition • Youth and employment • Social activities (Sports, leisure, etc.) • Gender, etc.

Priority Area 2 : Deepening of economic integration

Axis 2 : Enhanced cooperation with the States

• Institutional anchor of ECOWAS enlarged to all sectors of development in the Member States

• Multilateral surveillance of macroeconomic policies • Harmonisation of the business environment (legislation, codes) • Tax and customs cooperation and harmonisation • Harmonisation of statistics and information systems

Axis 7 : Financial and monetary integration

• Promotion of development of financial services (harmonisation of rules and financial practices networking of systems and financial services, promotion of bancarisation, etc.)

• Integration of sub-regional stock exchanges • Creation of the Single Currency

Priority Area 3 (PA 3) : Development of infrastructure and wealth creation Priority Area 3 (PA 3) : Development of infrastructure and wealth creation

Axis 3 : Common agricultural and industrial policies

• Enhancement of productivity and agricultural production • Promotion of food sovereignty • Promotion of industrial development and harmonisation of

standards • Interconnection of goods and services markets • Promotion of the private sector • Development of Trade

Axis 4 : Interconnection of transport infrastructure

• Connection of all urban centres to the Region • Development and interconnection of the road network • Development and interconnection of the rail network • Development and interconnection of the shipping network • Development and interconnection of the air transport network • Harmonisation of policies in matters pertaining to road, rail, air

transport, sea and port policies

Axis5 : Interconnection of ICT

• Interconnection, ensuring the reliability and popularisation of the fixed telephone

• Interconnection of the cell phone (integrated SIM card) • Interconnection of fibre optics • Popularisation of modern tools of communication • Promotion of Regional Radios and Televisions • Regulation of the telecommunications sector

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Axis 6 : Interconnection of energy and water

• Self-sufficiency in energy • Interconnection electricity and production, transmission and

distribution networks • Interconnection of networks for the production, conveyance and

distribution of drinking water • Sub-regional cooperation in the production, distribution of oil and

gas • Promotion of renewable energy • Regulation of the energy sector

Axis 9 : Research - development and innovation

• Establishment of networking among researchers and Research Centres , Universities, Advanced Schools and Institutions of Higher Learning

• Promotion of research for development in West Africa • Popularisation of research results • Establishment of a system of correspondence and equivalence of

degrees • Promotion of innovation, science and technology

Axis 10 : Common environmental and natural resource policies

• Integrated management of natural resources and the environment • Capacity building of the Region for adaptation to climate change

Priority Area 4 (PA 4) : Cooperation and financing

• Cooperation (South South, North South, triangular, etc.)• Partnership (public-private partnership, joint ventures, etc.) • Mobilisation of internal resources (regional financial institutions

and the private sector) • Mobilisation of external resources (technical and financial partners) • Monitoring and evaluation

Source : Department of Macroeconomic policy/ CDP Unit/ECOWAS, August, 2011 :

Priority Areas

The first three priority areas cut across the ten strategic axes outlined during the CDP

formulation process. They are generally in line with the main areas of strategic concern of key

programmes.

Cross-cutting Issues

Many critical issues of the Region exist but can hardly be classified under an axis as a result of

their cross-cutting nature. For instance, there are trade issues as well peace and security ones.

Trade

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Trade issues are multi-dimensional and cut across most of the axes. For example, Axis 1 on

integration takes into account trade and free movement of persons. In the case of Axis 3,

industrial and agricultural policies encompass major trade issues.

Peace and security

Peace and security are crucial in the development process. The conflicts between States, the

political and social crises, terrorism, drug and arms trafficking, natural disasters, the effects of

climate change and human-induced changes are some of the difficulties which undermine

stability in the region and its development. Furthermore, peace and security are today more than

the absence of conflict and armed violence. Development, respect for human rights and

protection against environmental hazards are important pre-requisites to guarantee sustainable

peace and security. Consequently, issues of peace and security cut across the ten CDP axes.

Overall consistency of the priority areas

The analysis of the strategic objectives emphasises an interdependence of the four (4) priority

areas of the CDP. Indeed, the strategic objectives of priority area 1 (PA 1) « Integration of

peoples, governance and human development » contribute to creating a stable, viable and secure

socio-political environment marked by sustainable peace, and ensuring that the citizens of the

Community are motivated to participate in the integration and development of the region and to

generate an overall productivity of factors necessary for wealth creation. It must be noted

however that the monitoring and success of the implementation of projects of this priority area

culminate in the establishment of political integration of the region in the sense that the good

institutions established ensure the proper functioning of the rule of law and transform the

aspirations of good governance into reality in the region.

The priority area (PA 2) « Deepening economic integration », while being a natural complement

of priority 1 in completing the regional integration process, it is interconnected with the latter for

two basic reasons. The first is the influence of the actual establishment of free movement of

persons and goods on the impact of implementing reforms in priority area 2, namely the

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establishment of a customs union through the implementation of the trade liberalisation scheme

and the establishment of the external tariff. This free movement is possible owing to the

appropriate ownership of the community texts by the citizens of the community and the

harmonisation of the police and customs procedures. The second reason is that quite naturally the

creation of a peaceful environment, the rule of law and security strongly promotes increased and

improved cooperation among the authorities, who enjoy an environment of confidence, play their

own roles better against the background of reforms aimed at harmonising the instruments,

procedures, codes and legislation. It must also be borne in mind that the customs union will lead

to an Economic Union which will eventually end up in a Monetary Union.

Furthermore, the projects in priority area 2 lead to the establishment of a stable, an enabling and

conducive climate for business to attract investments, to the emergence of a common market and

to the circulation of a single currency in the region. All these favourable conditions can only

stimulate the productive commercial and non commercial sectors and boost wealth creation in

the ECOWAS region. Thus, priority area 3 (PA3) « development of infrastructure and wealth

creation » benefits directly from the spin-offs of the two previous areas. It is also a direct quality

user of the available labour factor due to the investments in the strategic sectors of human

development to raise the level of overall productivity of factors. From these facts, the result will

be an expansion of sustainable, sustained and qualitative economic growth. By contrast, the

development of infrastructure and wealth creation stemming from the implementation of projects

in priority area 3 assists priority areas 1 and 2 and ensures continued sustainability..

The strategic objectives of priority area 4 « cooperation and financing » is at a cross-cutting point

and encompasses three other areas by providing the support and boost for the successful

realisation of the regional integration and sustainable development.

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Graph 15: Overall consistency Plan of priority areas

Source : ECOWAS Commission/Department of Macroeconomic Policy /CDP Unit

Thus, through the overall consistency of the priority areas, the comprehensive regional strategy

for long-term development can be adopted in a variety of forms as follows : « achieving food

self-sufficiency in the region, obtaining revenue from surplus agricultural production to finance

industrialisation and getting dividends from the exploitation of natural, mineral and energy

resources, and from profit tax accrued in the telephony sector to finance infrastructural

development in a context of successful political and economic integration that guarantees a

socio-political and economic environment that is stable, viable and conducive for investment ».

2.4 Logical framework of the CDP

The logical framework for the regional CDP is provided in Table 9 below. It is built in line with

the principles and terminology of Results Based Management (RBM) in its latest version with

           PA1 :  

Integration of  peoples, 

governance and human 

development  

PA2 :  Deepening of economic integration 

PA3 :  Development of infrastructure and 

wealth  creation  

PA4 : Cooperation and Financing

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Management focus on Development Results (MfDR). To facilitate the reading of this Table,

there is the need to refresh our minds briefly on the key concepts of RBM before showing their

suitability for the design of the logical framework for CDP.

One of the key principles of RBM is that all stages of the cycle of policies, programmes or

projects must be based on the achievement of development results. A development result is a

change in the living conditions, operation or capacity of beneficiaries. Consequently, beyond the

traditional management that is generally limited to the rate of physical or financial

implementation, RBM also requires the responsibility to take into account and track the medium

and long term results that are consequential to the activities performed.  A chain of results is thus

defined and generally includes: (1) resources or inputs, (2) activities, (3) outputs or products, (4)

effects or results (5) impact. The results are considered under three types namely, outputs,

outcomes and impact. Outputs are changes resulting immediately from activities conducted using

mobilised resources. Effects emanate from outputs and/or their use by the beneficiaries in the

medium-term prospects. The impact is the long-term change resulting from effects and outputs

and/or their use by the beneficiaries. The chain of results, logic and intervention strategy are

summarized in the logical framework tool.

The logical framework for the CDP is designed by applying these concepts and principles. The

impact of CDP is the achievement of the Vision 2020 expressed by the Heads of States of the

ECOWAS region, which could be stated as follows « Change from an ECOWAS of States to

an ECOWAS of peoples; a borderless, cohesive and well governed region; where people

live in dignity under the rule of law and take full advantage of globalisation». This statement

takes into account the four (4) objectives of the vision. To achieve this vision, the CDP has

identified four (4) priority areas consisting of ten (10) strategic axes with each of them having

specific objectives.

In this logical framework approach, the four priority areas have been converted into « effects ».

The ten axes are converted into « outputs » and it is no longer the case of objectives of each axis.

The proposed priority actions are divided up on the basis of output. These priority actions to be

specified in the form of projects must generate outputs under which they are listed. The

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cconsistency of the CDP will be appreciated through: (1) the capacity of priority actions and

specific projects that will be selected to generate outputs, 2) the capacity of output to generate the

effects under which they are listed, (3) the capacity of the effects to generate the intended impact,

which is the achievement of the ECOWAS Vision 2020.

The Table detailing the logical framework of the CDP is presented in the Annex.

2.5 Convergence and consistency of the main regional initiatives

Efforts agreed by countries in the region to meet the challenges they face can yield results only if

they are consistent among themselves. This consistency should be placed not only at institutional

level but also at the level of objectives and areas of intervention. The analysis of consistency in

this section shall be carried out from these different angles. In total, ten regional strategies will

be analysed. As a first step, it will involve examining the consistency of the relationships that

link institutions whose mandate is to develop and implement these strategies, the consistency of

the objectives and areas of intervention of the strategies. Secondly, it will identify gaps in the

areas targeted by the strategic axes. Finally, the contributions of CDP as regional strategy will be

developed in the last section.

Institutional Consistency

The consideration of institutional consistency focuses on the relationship between the IGOs that

formulate regional strategies and between IGOs and ECOWAS. Six of the ten regional strategies

are developed by the ECOWAS organs, two strategies by UEMOA and one by the African

Union and the ADB. Strategies developed by the ECOWAS organs, of course, often have the

same goals but are developed in different contexts with different approaches. In addition, the

CDP which should be a reference for these strategies is formulated ex-post. There is therefore the

need to establish a strong collaboration between these organs and the Internal Technical

Committee (ITC) provided in the institutional framework and which aims to ensure internal

synergy of ECOWAS initiatives.

Convergence of objectives and Areas of Intervention 

Table XX attached in the Annex shows the distribution of strategic axes of regional strategies

among the axes of the CDP. It specifies the number of strategic axes corresponding to each axis

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of the CDP. The axis of « Enhanced cooperation of States », contains 16 strategic axes of the

regional strategies followed by the axis of « common agricultural and industrial policy » (8), then

Interconnection of Energy and Water (7) and the axis of « Interconnection of Transport

Infrastructure ». The large number of similarities between the axis of « Increased cooperation of

States » and the axes of other strategies can be explained by the fact that this axis includes

several areas - governance, peace and security, trade, etc.  

Some axes of the CDP do not have or have only one counterpart in the other regional strategies.

This includes axis 9 « Research & Development and Innovation » which has no counterpart

among the axes of other strategies. The axes of « Integration of the people » « Integration of the

people » have only one counterpart each.

The correspondence between the strategic axes reveals that those that overlap have common

objectives and therefore should implement the same projects. There is therefore the need for the

implementation of these projects to be carried out within a consultative framework to facilitate

the mobilization of resources and assess the progress of achievement of Vision 2020. The

correspondence between the strategic axes does not capture the dimension of « geographical

region of intervention ». The diagram below summarises the inclusion of strategies according to

the dimension of priority areas and geographical region of intervention.

Three groups of strategies can be distinguished. The first group, which includes strategies

focusing on agriculture and environment, employment and trade, is composed of five strategies

that include « Regional fertilizer market strategy », PAU, ECOWAP, EPADP, SRRP and the

« private sector strategy». The second group is composed of strategies directed solely towards

infrastructure. This includes WAPP and PIDA. The third group includes strategies that cover

almost all areas. These include the regional strategic plan, the PER and the CDP.

Taking into account the geographical region dimension of strategy implementation, we can

introduce the concept of including a strategy in another one. Let us consider two strategies, one

strategy is included in another when the areas of intervention of the «smaller one» are taken into

account by those of the «bigger one» and the geographical region of intervention of the «smaller

one» is included (or identical) to that of the «bigger one».

Consequently, PAU, fertilizer strategies, and EPADP are included in the ECOWAP strategy.

However, PIDA, WAPP and PER have common priority areas and common intervention regions

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but not inclusive. The CDP takes into account all the priority areas and covers the intervention

regions of other strategies with the exception of PIDA which is a continent-wide strategy.

Graph 16: Block diagram of comparison of strategies.

Sources: CRES, IGO Survey, Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP/ECOWAS Unit, October 2012 :

Areas less targeted by strategies and contribution of CDP as a regional strategy

Analysis of correspondence between strategic axes shows that among the priority areas of Vision

2020, only the area of «Research and Development» does not have a strategic axis solely

dedicated to it. However, some strategic axes contain objectives that aim to promote research and

development. These include, especially, Pillar 2 «Private Sector-Development and Assistance to

Businesses» under the SRRP strategy.

The lack of strategic axis for a priority area presents some risks that this area may lose the

priority it was initially recognized for. Indeed, the criteria commonly used to analyse the

operationalisation of strategies through programmes and projects developed for this purpose, are

based, among other things, on the strategic axes. So if the CDP has the advantage of making a

strategic axis for most of the priority areas, it merged some priority areas of the region into a

single domain. It is the axis « Increased Cooperation of States » which includes governance,

peace and security, trade, etc. Because of renewed civil conflicts, coup d’état and terrorism, the

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emphasis on trade (international and intra-regional) in the region, it will be more efficient for the

CDP to separate these areas of priority of the axis « Increased cooperation of States ». This

imperfection does not reduce the hopes raised by the CDP for the region. Indeed, the CDP has

the advantage of being a regional strategy whose idea of creation is endogenous, made through

participatory development and is essentially unifying all existing regional strategies. To be a

unifying programme, the CDP must establish a strong collaboration between the technical and

steering committees of all existing strategies.

Box 01 : Consistency of regional integration initiatives The process of integration and regional development involves many stakeholders (State, IGOs, Non-State Actors, donors) and various organisational and legal frameworks in a heterogeneous space. Alignment is required in this framework to circumscribe concerns, especially, about waste of resources, organisational inconsistencies, discrepancies and contradictions of objectives and differences in prospects in terms of space and time. The concept of consistency has different connotations. It can thus be searched internally, externally, vertically or horizontally.

Internal consistency

ECOWAS is composed of specialized Institutions and Agencies that present organisational structures and implement various initiatives that are not necessarily included in an overall reference framework that ensures its consistency. Internally, the ECOWAS Commission has convergence fields, obviously, between Management in charge of Industry and the Private Sector attached to two different Departments. The ECOWAS agricultural policy has trade, industrial and health aspects including aspects related to private sector development which must be managed with consistency by the various Directorates in charge of these issues.

External consistency

The region is home to about thirty IGOs involved in regional integration. External consistency would be to take into account elements of the policies that are currently in these IGOs by arranging them in a more harmonised framework.

Beyond the regional context, there is also the African context including particularly NEPAD, and at the international level, through the Millennium Development Goals, the Paris Declaration and numerous international conventions.

Another angle of analysis focuses on the meaning and direction (vertical and horizontal) of ensuring consistency.

Vertical consistency

The integration process in West Africa involves many entities (intra ECOWAS and extra ECOWAS), the vertical consistency refers to the degree of organisation of the latter to achieve objectives. It determines the jurisdictions of the various organisations and entities working towards regional integration. A good vertical consistency generally implies that each entity operates according to its mandate or its comparative advantage.

Horizontal consistency

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It takes into account the convergence of views on similar set of themes coming from different actors and organisations. It will thus identify such themes, evaluate the discrepancies and foresee the ways and means to reconcile them while taking into account the complementarities.

CDP: a framework for ensuring consistency of initiatives:

The mandate of the CDP as defined in Vision 2020 is to provide a long-term development programme. This programme goes beyond the limits of the ECOWAS Commission and takes into account both the Institutions of ECOWAS and its associated organs and other IGOs in the region. In fact, although the CDP is initiated by the ECOWAS Commission, the programme is part of an overall regional plan involving all IGOs and actors in the region. For this purpose, the CDP seeks to establish consistency with existing programmes and on-going ones. This approach should be acceptable in terms of the definition of CDP projects and programmes as well as the management and implementation mechanism.

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CHAPTER III : EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PRIORITY AREAS

3.1 Background and justification

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has considerable potential in

terms of human and material resources. Indeed, ECOWAS covers a total area of 5,112,903

square kilometres with a total population of 300 Million people, or about 35 percent of the

population of sub-Saharan Africa, making it the most populated region among Regional

Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa. In addition, ECOWAS countries are endowed with

significant mineral resources, agricultural raw materials, considerable water and human

resources. The region is also a major producer of gold, diamonds, uranium, iron, crude oil and

has many waterways. Member States of ECOWAS also produce primary agricultural products

traded in large quantities on the international markets.

Despite this potential, ECOWAS is a very complex region with many challenges. Regional GDP

was estimated at 157 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, representing per capita GDP of 523 U.S.

dollars24. The majority of ECOWAS countries are classified as least developed countries (LDCs)

and about 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty line (less than 1.25 U.S. dollars

per person per day). Population growth in the region is running quite high with a total fertility

rate of about 5. This high demographic pressure has a number of major challenges, particularly

in terms of employment, food security and pressure on basic social services such as education,

health, electricity, water, housing, etc. 

In this context, it is important to develop more consistent policies in all spheres of development,

in the economic and social as well as environmental areas to promote more sustainable growth

and improved living conditions of populations in all member States and the region as a whole.

                                                            24 All currency units in this document are based on 2001 constant values in US dollars.

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To this end, ECOWAS has been assigned a mission to address these challenges through its new

Vision 2020, adopted in 2007 by the Authority of Heads of State and Government, which aims to

transform the « ECOWAS of States » into an « ECOWAS of peoples ».

This shift will result in the promotion of economic integration in all fields of economic activity

and a borderless region that maximizes the benefits of globalisation. To achieve regional

integration (RI), it is essential to strengthen the decision-making capacity of the ECOWAS

Commission with an appropriate tool of analysis which takes into account the socio-economic

and environmental dynamics in the region and allows the search for alternative scenarios based

on the objectives of the new vision instead of an underlying trend. Such a tool would also

allow the active participation of stakeholders, both state and non-state actors, all Member

States in the formulation and implementation of development policies and would promote, to this

end, a better suitability of political decisions and actions planned by ECOWAS.

It is against this background that the Community Development Programme of ECOWAS (CDP)

has adopted the Model « Threshold 21 » (Model T21) as a quantitative tool for analysis to

develop a consistent programme of action for the promotion of regional integration and

development agenda of the ECOWAS region. Indeed, the T21 Model is designed to support

integrated planning and is a valuable quantitative tool for planning and monitoring- evaluation.

Based on system dynamics, the model is designed to support forecasting and planning of national

and regional development. The T21 is a transparent tool for promoting dialogue between

stakeholders and ensuring the consistency of the various sector programmes.

The vision as expressed by the Highest Authority of ECOWAS has been translated into an

operational area in terms of pillars. In total, four pillars were identified. These four pillars

include:

- Pillar 1 : Free movement of persons, goods, services and capital between Member States;

- Pillar 2 : Governance, peace and security;

- Pillar 3 : Energy and infrastructure ;

- Pillar 4: Monetary and financial integration.

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The choice made in respect of the T21 Model is justified by the fact that this model incorporates

a wide range of sectors in the economic, social and environmental fields, as well as its user-

friendly and transparent nature, with a user interface allowing all actors to participate in

constructive dialogue to achieve consensus on policy options to be adopted. In addition, this type

of model has been used in more than 20 countries and regions around the world to solve the

problems of development and long term planning.

Section II presents the methodological approach and the interaction between different sectors of

the T21 Model. Section III analyses the underlying or baseline scenario («Business As Usual -

BAU») in the region, highlighting the likely results of the continuation of current policies,

problems that will arise and the possible policy options to address the challenges and optimal

combinations to implement, in order to help achieve the strategic objectives of Vision 2020.

Section IV compares all scenarios and explains how the model is used to justify the choice of

strategic areas in order to support the regional integration process and the long-term planning of

ECOWAS.

3.2 Methodological Approach

3.2.1 Comparative Advantage of the T21 Model in relation to other existing models 

The Aggregated Threshold 21 (T21) Model (CDPA) was developed by the ECOWAS

Commission within the framework of drawing up the Community Development Programme

(CDP) with the support of the « Millennium Institute – MI » in Washington, DC USA. The T21

is a model based on system dynamics as a tool to support the development planning at both

regional and national levels. The T21 is structured to analyse the problems of development in the

medium and long term. The model integrates economic, social and environmental aspects of

development planning in one framework. The level of disaggregation used makes the T21 an

ideal tool for analysing issues of allocation of resources to various sectors.

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The transparency of the T21 Model promotes policy dialogue between actors who do not

necessarily have expertise in modeling. The T21 Model is useful at four levels in the planning of

national and regional development:

- First of all, the participatory process intrinsic to the development of the model provides

insight into the consistency and relevance of the objectives, assumptions and data used for

policy development in all sectors of the economy. It also helps to gather the needs in terms of

human and institutional resources required for the effective modelling of the economy;

- Second, the basic simulation of the model provides an overview of key development issues

that a region or country may face in the future;

- Third, the alternative scenarios presented on the basis of policy proposals help to understand

how different strategic choices or external conditions can influence future development, and

how sector policies interact in a synergetic manner. The T21 Model also has the advantage of

promoting integration, not only in all sectors at the national level, but also across Member

States.

- Fourth, the resulting strategic plan would provide the basic elements that can help and guide

decision-making and actions in different sectors and between countries, as well as monitoring

and evaluation of performance and results of initiatives implemented.

The T21 Model is designed to complement the budget models and other planning tools in the

short to medium term by providing the prospect of comprehensive and long-term development.

The T21 has the capacity to exploit and complement other quantitative tools such as econometric

models, Social Accounting Matrices (SAM) and Computable General Equilibrium Models

(CGEM). It can integrate sections or results of these models in its general modelling framework.

T21 & Econometric Models (EMs)

Econometric Models use a methodological approach to measure and understand the relationships

between variables. Consequently, the results of EMs can be used as input in the T21, and define

113 

 

more closely the causal relationships between variables. Although EMs and T21 are

complementary, the EM does not have the capacity to model complex relationships of cause and

effect between economic, social and environmental spheres of development and predict the

effects of policy changes, especially in the long term. Another advantage of the T21 model over

EMs is its transparency where the formulas that explain causal relationships between variables

can be tested, verified, and modified when necessary to reflect the reality.

T21 & Computable General Equilibrium Model (CGEM)

CGE models are very intensive in terms of calculation and require a lot of data and quantitative

skills in modelling. They are very useful for the analysis of optimal impact of alternative

policies. However, CGE models generally, have a strictly economic scope and they do not cover

aspects of social and environmental sectors that are relevant for comprehensive and long-term 

planning. It is also more difficult for CGE models to explain how the economy will achieve

optimal conditions, or how long it will take to get there. 

3.2.2 General Structure of the T21 Model

T21 incorporates economic, social and environmental aspects of national development, with key

links between them. The figure below provides a conceptual view of the relationship between

these different sectors, with the social, economic and environmental aspects highlighted

respectively in red, blue and green.

Graph 17 below shows the basis for T21, with the consideration of three main sectors «

economic, social and environmental », that capture the realities and concerns of development and

well-being of all countries, as well as their interactions. An example of interaction is given by the

labour in the « social » sector and expenses on education in the « economy » sector. The social

sector provides the labour factor to the «economy» sector that generates the revenue needed to

support education expenses and, consequently, the availability of labour factor. Both sectors are

thus mutually influential.

Graph 17: Illustration of sectoral interactions : Economic, Social and Environmental

114 

 

Source : Millennium Institute, 2005

Sectors of T21 can be aggregated into sub-systems to facilitate the understanding of how the

model functions. To get a deeper understanding of the model and its structures, we need to

explore the links between sub-systems. In this regard, Graph 18 illustrates the major sub-systems

of the « economic » sector and their interactions.

Graph 18: Detailed view: Interactions between spheres of the « Economic » sector with the other sectors – Social and Environmental

Social 

Environment 

EconomyEducation 

Health 

Population 

Infrastruc ture 

Employment 

Poverty 

Production 

Government 

Investment 

Rest of the World

Households 

Technology

Energy

Minerals Emissions 

Land

Sustainability 

Water

115 

 

Source : Millennium Institute, 2005

Below is the description of interactions between « economic » and « social » sectors through

their respective sub-systems. A chain of links described to this end, indicates that an increase in

production leads to an increase in gross domestic product, income distribution, and government

revenue as a result of public spending, especially investment made in the « social » sub-sectors

such as health and education. The specific expenses on education and health positively affect the

« workforce », « level of employment » and « productivity » sub-systems and incidentally the

production sub-system of the « economic » sector. 

Graph 19: Detailed view: « Economic » and « Social » sub-systems interactions

Production 

Demand

Supply

Relative Price

GDP

Budgetary Revenue

Tax andRegulation

Public Debt 

Investment

Per capita income

Private Investment

Trade

Social 

Environment 

Capital

116 

 

Source : Millennium Institute, 2005

population 

production

demand

supply 

relative prices

GDP

incomedistribution

labor force 

employment 

adult literacy rate

life expectancy 

government revenue 

taxes andregulation

government debt

investment

healthcare andeducation 

pc income

privateinvestment

tradelabor productivity 

Environment 

capital

117 

 

Graph 20: Detailed view: «Economic », « Social » and « Environmental » sub-systems interactions

Source : Millennium Institute, 2005

Graph 20 provides a complete view, with interactions between the sub-systems of the three

sectors of the T21 Model « economic », « social » and « environmental». With regard to Figure

3, the added sub-systems of the «environmental» sector help to highlight chains of relationships

in a negative sense. Thus, production has negative consequences in terms of generation of

pollution and drain on non-renewable resources which may affect life expectancy and health and

incidentally the level of production.

population

nonrenewable resources

pollution

production 

agricultural land

demandsupply

relativeprices 

GDP

incomedistribution

labor force 

employment 

adult literacyrate

lifeexpectancy

governmentrevenue

taxes andregulation

government debt 

investment

healthcare andeducation

pc income

privateinvestment

tradelabor

productivity  capital

118 

 

3.2.3 ECOWAS T21 Model (T21-CDP-A)

The ECOWAS T21 Model is similar to most of the other T21 models. Its uniqueness lies in the

fact that it is a regional development model for all 15 ECOWAS countries, aggregated into a

single community space. The main objective of the model is to address development issues in the

context of Regional Integration (RI).

Regional integration in the ECOWAS region could result in increased productivity, employment,

energy supply. It could, on the other hand, have negative effects such as reducing government

tariff revenue due to the implementation of relative trade liberalisation schemes. In this respect,

this gap is expected to be compensated for in the long term more or less, by positive effects of

RI, especially in terms of revenue growth resulting from increased employment, productivity or

expansion of trade between Member States, thanks to the removal of intra-regional trade barriers.

The T21 Model is used to evaluate the effects of regional integration.

Graph 21: Cause and effect diagram of the Regional Integration pillars and their consequences

119 

 

Pillars of Regional Integration Foreign

Investment

Cost of factors of production

Investment efficiency

Energy efficiency

Transport efficiency

Government tax Revenue  

Peace and security

Free movement of Persons

Free Trade

Monetary Union

Communication networks

Power grids

Transport networks

Employment

Total factor Productivity

Tax Revenue

Low transmission loss

Consequences

Regional Trade 

Pillar I: Free movement of persons, goods/services, and capitaux

Pillar II: Governance, Peace and Security

Pillar III: Energy and Infrastructure 

Pillar IV: Financial and monetary integration

Hydraulic power

120 

 

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit, 2010

Graph 21 presents the pillars of the ECOWAS regional integration model and the potential effects on the

development of the region.

The first pillar "Pillar I: Free movement of persons, goods and services, and capital" will affect

the first two variables in the second column, «free movement of persons» and «free trade».

Variables in the second column will affect the variables in the third column. For example, the

variable "free movement of persons" will affect "regional trade" and "cost of factors of

production". Finally, variables in the third column will affect variables such as "employment",

"total factor productivity ", "tax revenue", "hydro-electric power" and "transmission loss". This

diagram highlights the effects of regional integration policies on the development of the region. 

Graph 22 shows the condensed structure of the ECOWAS T21 Model with policy variables and

their consequences.

Graph 22: Overview of the ECOWAS T21 Model

GI

Prodn

pp

HP

CI

Households

Per Capita IncomeTotal investment

E

Population

expendituresinvestments

Government

total fertility

revenues

incomeinvestment

Industry production

education and health careadult literacy rateaccess to basic health care

Energy

Gini coefficient

Infrastructure

Service productionAgriculture production

life expectancyage cohorts

electricityoil demand supplygas demand supplyemissions

productivity

l

landagriculture land

forest land

settlement land

Int

International trade

exports

imports

employment

Boxes

peace and security

free movement of peoplefree trade

monetary union

energy network

transportation network

communication network

Regional integration

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit, 2010.

121 

 

The central point of the graph is production divided among three sub-sectors: industry, services

and agriculture. Subsequently, this highlights mainly interactions in terms of origin/sources,

thereby essentially emphasising the human capital, the technical factors of infrastructure and

productivity; and in terms of employment/use/effects of this production in the spheres of

government and households in the areas of infrastructure and land use.

With regard to the issue of developing aggregated model based on integration, the chart

highlights four (4) main pillars expected to interact with other sub-systems of the model and

provide transmission channels for regional initiatives on key spheres or variables of the model:

government, energy, productivity, employment and total investment.

Graph 23 provides a detailed description of a sub-system, specifically, the industrial sphere of

the ECOWAS T21 model. Industrial Production is estimated using the Cobb-Douglas function of

production, with capital, labour and total factor productivity. Blue variables delimited by <> are

calculated from other sectors of the model. On the other hand, two variables, the production of

industry and the capital of industry in this sector are calculated and used in other sectors. Total

factor productivity is influenced by the effects of the four pillars of regional integration, as

shown in the left part of the figure, and by other variables such as health (represented by life

expectancy), education (represented by the adult literacy rate), and infrastructure (represented by

the density of infrastructure for operation).

122 

 

Graph 23: Industrial sector of the ECOWAS T21 Model

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

3.3 Simulations and empirical analyses

3.3.1 Underlying scenario : Comparison of the outcomes of the Model with Historical Data

Historical data from the ECOWAS T21 Model come from several sources, including the

ECOSTAT database of ECOWAS, the WDI of the World Bank, the demographics of the

Population Division of the United Nations, the energy data of EIA (U.S. Energy Information

Agency), and FAO data on land, water, and agriculture

Simulations of the ECOWAS T21 Model start from the year 1990. From the data, discussions

with experts from Member States as well as the review of literature for the period 1990 - 2010,

model equations and parameters were estimated and calibrated, and the model results were

compared with historical data. These adjustments have helped to improve the relevance of causal

<relative infrastructuredensity>

<average adultliteracy rate>

INITIAL AVERAGEADULT LITERACY RATE 

relative average adultliteracy rate

full regional integrationproductivity effect

IntegrationProductivity Effect

<POLICYIMPLEMENTION TIME>

Capital Industry

INDUSTRY CAPITALELASTICITY

AVERAGE LIFECAPITAL INDUSTRY

depreciation industry 

INITIAL CAPITALINDUSTRY

industryproduction

relative capital industry

relative industryemployment INITIAL INDUSTRY

PRODUCTION

total factorproductivity industry

industry grosscapital formation

effect of education onproductivity industry

effect of health onproductivity industry

effect of infrastructure density on productivity 

industry

ELASTICITY OF PRODUCTIVITY TO LIFE 

EXPECTANCY INDUSTRY 

ELASTICITY OFPRODUCTIVITY TO

EDUCATION INDUSTRY

ELASTICITY OF PRODUCTIVITY TOINFRASTRUCTURE DENSITY

INDUSTRY

relative average life expectancy

<average lifeexpectancy>

INITIAL AVERAGELIFE EXPECTANCY 

<investment industry> 

<INITIAL INDUSTRYEMPLOYMENT>

<pillar 1 productivity effect> 

<pillar 2 productivity effect> 

<pillar 3 productivity effect> 

<pillar 4 productivity effect> 

<industryemployment> 

123 

 

relationships in the model and to ensure a better representation of economic, social and

environmental relationships. 

This calibration exercise helps to identify the required changes on the conventional relationships

to better present the true relationships and dynamics within ECOWAS and possibly improve data

collection. After making these adjustments on historical data for all key indicators for which data

are available, the model is simulated until 2030 - assuming a continuation of the underlying

scenario, "Business As Usual BAU-" - to determine the behaviour of endogenous variables of

different indicators.

Graph 24 shows the comparison of industrial production between the simulation results of the

model described in Figure 23 simulated (in blue, for the entire period from 1990 to 2030) and

historical data (in red, valid from 1990 to 2010). Industrial production rose from 18 billion

dollars in 1990 to 33 billion dollars in 2010. It is anticipated that the industrial production would

increase to more than 86 billion dollars in 2030. Over the same period, the value of agricultural

production is estimated at 26 billion dollars, 60 billion dollars and 110 billion dollars in 1990,

2010 and 2030 respectively. The value of the production of services was 19 billion dollars in

1990; 56 billion dollars in 2010 and estimated at 177 billion dollars in 2030 (see Graph 25 and

Graph 26, respectively).

124 

 

Graph 24: Comparison of the model with historical data [1990 – 2030]

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Graph 25 : Agricultural Production

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Industrial Production

100 B 

75 B

50 B

25 B

0 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Period (Year)

Industrial production: historical\ base usd01/yrIndustrial production: historical\ data ECOWAS usd01/yr

125 

 

Graph 26: Production of Services

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

The calibration exercise on historical data helps to identify the main characteristics of ECOWAS

in the following economic, social and environmental areas:

Real GDP increased quite rapidly from 65.1 billion US dollars in 1990 to 157 billion US dollars

in 2010, at an average annual rate of 4.5% (Figure 3.11). But due to high population growth, the

average annual growth of per capita GDP was only 1.7%. 

Graph 27 : Real GDP (market price – dollar constant 2001)

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

126 

 

The population grew from 181 million in 1990 to 300 Million in 2010, at an annual rate of 2.6%

(see Graph 21). The relatively high fertility rate has slowly declined from 6.55 in 1990 to 5.5 in

2008 (see Graph 22). Life expectancy has increased, but at a slower pace, from 48.6 years

(women) and 46.3 years (men) in 1990 to 52.2 (women) and 50.5 (men) in 2008. In 2010, 43%

of the population was under 15 years, which leads us to predict a sustained growth of population

in the decades to come. 

Graph 28: Trends of the Total Population [1990- 2030]

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Graph 29 : Fertility Rate

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

127 

 

Graph 30 : Population Pyramid for 1990

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Graph 31: Population Pyramid for 2008

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

128 

 

The poverty situation is severe in the region. Measured at 1.25 U.S. dollars per person per day,

in ppp (purchasing power parity), about 60% of the population lived below the poverty line in

2008. Based on statistical data of the model, the rate of activity in the region is 0.63.  In other

words, the proportion of the labour force is 63%, and this includes the segment from 15 years

and over (number of employed and unemployed) in the corresponding general population.

Moreover, given the situation of under-employment in most countries of the region, with low

levels of wages and widespread informal sector, the high incidence of poverty would remain a

major challenge for the region.

Although public spending on education is low, about 2% of GDP, the gross enrollment rate

(GER) for primary education has shown a positive trend. In 1990, the GER was 70% for girls and

90% for boys. In 2008, it increased to 85% for girls and 96% for boys. The adult literacy rate in

2008 was about 50% for women and 70% for men.

Graph 32: Gross Enrollment Rate

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

129 

 

Graph 33: Literacy Rate

Source : Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Growth in productivity (output per worker) in the region has been very slow. For 17 years,

from 1990 to 2007 (with employment data available for only 1990, 1991 and 2007), productivity

in industry and services increased by only 8% and 18% respectively, this represents less than 1%

per annum. The growth in GDP over this period is driven more by the expansion of the labour

force than by growth in productivity. 

Deforestation is still an ongoing phenomenon: forest land decreased from 91.6 million

hectares in 1990 to 75.0 million hectares in 2008. Agricultural land (arable land and pasture)

increased from 212 million hectares in 1990 to 249 million hectares in 2008. What emerges from

this trend is that for each increase of one hectare of agricultural land, an acre of forest is lost. The

expansion of agricultural land could therefore be the major cause of deforestation in the region.

130 

 

Graph 34 : Forest Zone

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Graph 35 : Agricultural Land

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

131 

 

Despite the expansion of agricultural land, the hunger situation has not improved. Cereal

production per capita has increased from 161 kg/person in 1990 to 192 kg /person in 2008, still

much lower than the world average of 352 kg/person in 2007 (FAO 2011). The main indicator of

agricultural productivity, cereal yields, has increased from about 0.90 tonne / hectare in 1990 to

1.27 tonnes per hectare in 2010, still very low compared to the world average of 3.38 tonnes/

hectare (FAO 2011). Figure 9 below shows the trends in terms of yields and cereal production

within the ECOWAS region from 1990 to 2010.

Graph 36 : Cereal production

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

132 

 

Graph 37: Cereal yields

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

Oil production in the region seems to have reached its optimum level in 2005 with 977 Million barrels. The region has also experienced huge losses in electricity transmission estimated at 26%, compared to 5% -10% recorded elsewhere (graph 32).

Graph 38 : Oil Production

133 

 

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011.

Graph 39 : Loss in Electricity Transmission

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

3.3.2  Challenges related to the underlying scenario (BAU) for the development of the region over the period 2010-2030

In the absence of regional policies to influence the underlying scenario, the region would

continue to face the challenge of economic and social underdevelopment over the period 2010-

2030, as shown by the results of the baseline projections of 2010 presented below.

The population will continue to grow rapidly over the 2010-2030 period, partly due to the high

total fertility, and secondly because of the existence of a large proportion of the population under

15 years. The total population of the region could reach 480 million in 2030 or 60% more than

the current population, estimated at 300 Million (Graph 33).  

The recorded high population growth will continue to slow per capita GDP growth. As a result,

39% of the population could still live under the poverty line in 2030.

134 

 

Due to population pressure, agricultural land and residential areas will continue to increase

and this will significantly reduce the vegetation cover. Forest areas could shrink from 70 million

hectares in 2010 to over 50 million hectares in 2030, representing an annual reduction of over 1

million hectares per year over the next 20 years.

Agricultural yields have gradually improved but they still remain relatively low. In fact, even if

agricultural yields continue to grow at the same pace as in the past, agricultural production per

capita will only grow slightly. This means that the problem of food security would remain a

major challenge for the population given the current demographic pressure.  

Youth education would also be a major challenge given that population growth will exert great

pressure on public social services in education and healthcare. This pressure could be extended

to other services such as water, energy and transport provided by the government. The

production of services in these areas is essential to improving productivity and economic growth. 

The annual production of crude oil would decline from about 800 million barrels in 2010 to

650 million barrels in 2030, while annual regional demand could increase from about 200

million barrels currently to over 300 Million barrels in 2030. This would mean that the region

would have less oil for export; it would have 350 million barrels for export in 2030 as against

600 million currently. 

In short, this leads us to understand that due to population growth, governments in the region will

have a difficult task to ensure food security of the population, alleviate poverty, provide

education and other social services, and promote productivity in a global context of competitive

markets. The task would be particularly more difficult because the natural resources of the

region, in terms of oil reserves and forest lands, are being depleted.

135 

 

3.3.3 Assumptions of Regional Integration (RI) and Family Planning (FP) Scenarios

To find solutions to the challenges listed, three scenarios were developed with the ECOWAS

T21 Model. The three scenarios are: (i) Regional Integration (RI) Option, (ii) Family Planning

(FP) Option; and Regional Integration and Family Planning (RI & FP) Option. The user interface

of the model helps to test these various assumptions while taking into account the specificities of

the four pillars of the ECOWAS integration process.  

Assumptions of the Regional Integration (RI) scenario. It is assumed that the effective

implementation of regional integration will begin in 2012 and the four pillars will have the

following consequences:

Pillar I: Free movement of persons, goods, services and capital will result in larger

markets, more competition and a better allocation of human resources and other

resources. This would increase productivity by 5% in relation to the underlying scenario.

This increase would be achieved gradually over a period of 5 years. All increases in

productivity and foreign investment in the other pillars will be achieved in the same

manner. Free trade at regional level would result in a reduction in public revenue by 5%

of the value of intra-regional imports, and such reduction would be achieved upon

implementation of the policy.

Pillar II: Governance, peace and security would mean that improvement in governance

and better use of existing resources would increase productivity by 5% compared to the

underlying scenario. This would attract more foreign direct investment, and

consequently, these foreign investments would be improved by 5% in relation to the

underlying scenario or «Business as Usual».

Pillar III: Improving energy as well as transport and telecommunications

infrastructure would be through the construction and coordinated exploitation of

regional integrated infrastructure networks for energy, transport and telecommunications,

which will bring more reliability and less cost of services associated with such

infrastructure. As a result, productivity would increase by 10% in relation to the

136 

 

underlying scenario. The construction of these infrastructure networks would happen in 5

years and would create 50,000 jobs. Transmission loss of electricity will be gradually

reduced by 50% in relation to the underlying scenario after 5 years. Similarly, more

hydro-electric power will be produced (for example in Guinea), so that less oil will be

used for the production of electricity, and thus there will be more oil available for export.

Hydro-electric power capacity is expected to increase by 2% per year in the underlying

scenario.

Pillar IV: The monetary and financial integration would bring greater macroeconomic

stability, and consequently, it would increase foreign direct investment and factor

productivity. It is assumed that they will both be 5% higher than the trend scenario.

Family Planning (FP) scenario assumption: Thanks to developing and calibrating the

ECOWAS T21 Model (T21-CDP-A), it has become apparent that with the rapid population

growth resulting from high fertility rate, it would be difficult to improve the welfare of the

population without an appropriate and effective policy on education and family planning.

Indeed, it is assumed that more access to education and family planning programmes would

help to achieve a better control of population dynamics. Some major indicators are presented

in Tables 1 and 2 below. After the implementation of this programme, it is expected that the

fertility rate would reduce from 5.38 in 2010 to 2.0 in 2030, while in the underlying scenario

fertility rate in 2030 would drop to only 4.2.

Assumption of combining Regional Integration and Family Planning (RI&FP) This

policy is the combination of Scenarios of Regional Integration (RI) and Family Planning

(FP). Tables 1 and 2 below show the results of some major indicators from these scenarios.

3.4 Comparison between scenarios and Justification of Priority Areas of the CDP

This section presents the results of the comparison between the various scenarios discussed in the

previous section and provides justification for the priority areas selected for the Community

Development Programme (CDP).

3.4.1 Comparison of the BAU, RI, FP and RI&FP Scenarios

The model is developed with the Vensim software, and all indicators of these four scenarios can

be viewed either in graphical or tabular form. For example, the real per capita GDP indicator,

137 

 

« real pc gdp », calculated from these scenarios is presented in Graph 33 below graphically. The

blue line represents the trend scenario (« Business as Usual)- BAU »), the red line is the regional

integration (RI) scenario and the green line is the Family Planning (FP) scenario and the gray

line represents the GDP resulting from the combination of the two policies from regional

integration and family planning (RI & FP).

Graph 40 : Comparison between real per capita GDP for BAU, RI, FP, RI & FP Scenarios

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

The comparison between the results of simulations of key development indicators for the years 2010, 2020 and 2030 is presented in the table below:

138 

 

Table 11: Comparison between BAU, RI, FP and RI&FP scenarios for 2010, 2020 and 2030 Indicators/ Scenarios

Unit Value in 2010

BAU Underlying

Scenario

Family Planning (FP)

Regional Integration

(RI)

RI&FP Combination

PERIOD 2010 2020 2030 2020 2030 2020 2030 2020 2030 POPULATION Total Population Million pers 297 375 464 365 409 375 465 365 412 Fertility Rate Person 5.3 4.68 4.10 3.69 2 4.64 4.05 3.69 2 ECONOMY Real GDP Bn US$2001 148 237 392 237 397 299 593 299 601 Real per capita GDP US$2001/ Per 496 632 845 651 970 796 1277 820 1460

Budgetary Revenue

Billion (Bn) US$2001 26.6 42.7 70.5 42.7 71.5 47.1 94.4 47.2 95.6

Import Bn US$2001 70.2 106 165 107 167 133 250 134 253 Export Bn US$2001 36.1 64.3 117 64.4 119 81.6 177 81.7 179 SOCIAL Poverty rate % 57.5 48.6 37.4 47.1 31.3 36.7 19.9 35.4 15.7 Basic Enrollment Rate % 89 92 96 93 97 94 98 94 99

Life Expectancy Year 49.5 53.8 56.5 54.0 57.4 54.5 58.3 54.7 59.2 Malaria morbidity rate Person 34007 14472 12881 13118 11797 14282 7859 12992 7353

IDH (Dev.index) 0.474 0.519 0.555 0.522 0.569 0.536 0.589 0.539 0.603 IDG-Gender index 0.502 0.545 0.555 0.546 0.582 0.549 0.587 0.551 0.593

LAND AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION Agricultural land Bn Hectare 252 274 295 272 284 274 295 272 284 Forest Bn Hectare 72.3 62 51.7 63 57.2 62 51.6 63 57.0 Cereal Production Bn Ton 58.6 84.3 116 84.4 116 103 147 103 147 Cereal Production / person Kg/person 0.19 0.22 0.25 0.23 0.28 0.27 0.31 0.28 0.35

Agricultural Yield (Cereal) Ton/Ha 1.24 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.8 2.2 1.8 2.3

INFRASTRUCTURE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT Spending on Infrastructure

Billion US $2001 6.7 12.8 24.1 13.1 26.1 14.9 35.8 15.3 37.9

Hydro-electric Power

Billion (Bn) kwh 16.1 17.6 19.3 17.6 19.3 20.5 26.2 20.5 26.3

Oil Demand Million (Mn) Barrels 195.8 247.48 317.8 247.52 318.9 272.61 380.6 272.63 381.8

Oil Export Million (Mn) Barrels 690.8 516.55 329.8 516.52 328.7 491.44 267.0 491.41 265.8

Electricity Prod. (with oil)

Billion (Bn) kwh 7.63 12,51 20.18 12.42 19.79 12.69 22.85 12.62 22.40

Electricity Prod. (with gas)

Billion (Bn) kwh 24.07 39.53 63.91 39.29 62.68 40.14 72.36 39.88 70.93

Demand for electricity

Billion (Bn) kwh 36.1 52.69 78.12 52.44 76.91 61.93 104.5 61.65 102.9

Electricity demand /person Kwh 121.4 140.4 168.5 143.8 187.9 165.0 224.9 168.9 250.0

Electricity loss in transmission

Billion (Bn) kwh 11.7 17.0 25.2 16.9 24.8 11.4 16.9 11.3 16.6

Greenhouse Gas Million 120 162 216 162 216 173 248 173 248

139 

 

Emission Tonne

Source: Millennium Institute and Macroeconomic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

This table shows the values of key indicators resulting from the simulations based on the

scenarios presented above. The differences between the scenarios are more pronounced in 2030

in relation to 2020, in connection with the time of transmission of effects of the policies. The RI

& FP scenario seems to generate the best results with a more contained population growth,

longer life expectancy, higher GDP and per capita GDP, higher government revenues, lower

poverty rates, forest areas and per capita cereal production relatively higher in relation to the

reference scenario. As a corollary to these developments, a higher demand for oil and hence oil

exports drop for the RI & FP scenario.

It should be noted that alternative scenarios could generate short-term losses. For example,

because of free trade, budgetary revenue from taxes on intra-regional trade could reduce.

However, in the long term, total budgetary revenue will increase faster due to a larger tax base

(GDP) and rising import demand outside the region, as shown in Figure 34 below.

Graph 41: Comparison of budget revenue between the (BAU) and RI underlying scenarios

Source: Millennium Institute and Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011

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Beyond 2030, the differences between the scenarios could be bigger, given that the total

population of Family Planning (FP) and Regional Integration and Family Planning (RI & FP)

scenarios will stabilise, while the total population will continue to grow with respect to the

(BAU) and Regional Integration (RI) underlying scenarios, with a high level of inertia.

Comparison based on previous population pyramids between the 2030 BAU and RI & FP

scenarios shows that in the next 20 years and beyond 2030, the RI & FP scenario would result in

a much smaller population of fertile women. With a decline in total fertility and a low population

of fertile women, the RI & FP scenario would continue to produce a lower population growth.

Graph 42: Comparison of the population pyramids between BAU and RI & FP

Source: Millennium Institute and Macroeconomic Policy Department / CDP Unit / Model CDPA, 2011.

BAURI&FP

2030 Population Pyramid

Women

0 10 M 20 M 30 M 40 M

age 80 and plus

age 75-79

age 70-74

age 65-69

age 60-64

age 55-59

age 50-54

age 45-49

age 40-44

age 35-39

age 30-34

age 25-29

age 20-24

age 15-19

age 10-14

age 5-9

age 0-4

Men

010 M20 M30 M40 M

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3.4.2 Justification of the CDP Priority Areas

In general, the above analysis has shown that the use of development models can help identify

the challenges that continue to weigh on the region and the policies and actions to be

implemented in order to define them in a better way. As an illustration, the T21 Model analysis

showed how the challenges of lower tariff revenue resulting from trade liberalisation could be

overcome endogenously in the long term because of the magnitude of the direct and indirect

benefits which could be attributable to this measure. The use of the model was also used to test

the results of alternative policies likely to reverse or mitigate undesirable consequences of the

underlying scenario, called BAU.

Results from simulations of the T21 Model have helped to identify priority areas likely to

improve both the economies of Member States and the living conditions of West African

populations. During the construction and calibration of the ECOWAS T21 Model, it was found

out that the rapid population growth due to high total fertility rate could exert strong pressure on

public infrastructure and services. In this respect, the family planning policy which has been

incorporated into the general simulation framework has culminated in achieving more positive

results in terms of development and social welfare profile of the region in the long term, than the

central scenario of regional integration.

This regional integration scenario is built around four pillars - (i) Free movement of persons,

goods, services and capital, (ii) Governance, Peace and Security, (iii) improvement of energy and

transport and telecommunications infrastructure, and (iv) monetary and financial integration. In

the light of simulations carried out, the achievement of the objectives attached to these pillars

would increase factor productivity, employment, energy supply and expansion of trade between

Member States thanks to the removal of barriers to intra-regional trade.

Implementation of Pillar I on the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital would

increase productivity by 5% in relation to the underlying scenario due to increased mobility of

factors (human and other types of factors), efficiency gains (better allocation of resources) and a

yield on larger scales. The achievement of the objectives attached to Pillar II relating to

governance, peace and security will improve the state of governance through better use of

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existing resources that would increase productivity in relation to the trend scenario. This stability

would attract more foreign direct investment, all things being equal in other respects. Pillar III on

energy production and the development of transport infrastructure networks and

telecommunications would bring more reliability, reduce cost of services and increase

productivity by 10% in relation to the baseline scenario. Transmission loss in electricity will be

gradually reduced by 50% in relation to the baseline scenario after 5 years. Similarly, the hydro-

electric power capacity is expected to increase by 2% per year.  The construction of these

infrastructure networks would be carried out over at least 5 years and it would create more than

50,000 jobs over that period.

Regarding Pillar IV on monetary and financial integration, including the establishment of the

single currency, its implementation would lead to greater macroeconomic stability and increase

foreign direct investment and factor productivity by 5% compared to the underlying scenario.

Finally, a Family Planning (FP) scenario, which would result through an appropriate and

effective education and family planning policy, has been studied in the ECOWAS Model T21

(T21-CDPA) to ensure better control of increasing population dynamics resulting from the high

fertility rate. This analysis shows that the fertility rate of 5.38 in 2010 would drop to 2.0 in 2030

compared to the underlying scenario where this rate would decline only to 4.12 in 2030.

.

In total, the empirical analysis has helped to identify and highlight strategic axes of intervention

of the CDP that could be grouped into four priority areas of intervention as shown in Graph 36

below: 

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Graph 43: Priority Areas, Strategic Axes and Indicators

domaine prioritaire 1: integrationdes peuples, gouvernance et

developpement humain

domaine prioritaire 2:approfondissement de

l'integration economique

domaine prioritaire 3:developpement des

infrastructures et creation derichesse

axe 1: integration des populations

axe 2: cooperation accrue des etats

axe 8: developpement humain

axe 7: integration financiere et monetaire

axe 3: politiques agricole et industrielle

axe 4: interconnexion des infrastructures de transport

axe 5: interconnexion des tic

axe 6: interconnexion energetique et hydraulique

axe 9: recherche developpement et innovation

axe 10: politiques communes en environnement et ressources naturelles

population totale

echange commerciale intra regionale

taux de scolarisation

incidence de pauvrete

emploi

produit interieur brut

production agricole

taux de morbite du palludisme

production industrielle

production de petrole

production d'electricite

production de gaz a effetde serre

infrastructure

investissement entechnologie

recette budgetaire

domaines prioritaires axes strategiques indicateurs

dom

aine

pri

orita

ire

4: c

oope

ratio

n et

fina

ncem

ent

Source : ECOWAS and Millennium Institute from Model T21 CDPA

Thus, the four priority areas overlap with ten (10) strategic axes selected for the CDP as follows:

Priority Area 1[PA1] : Integration of Peoples, Governance and Human Development

would help to group the priority axes : « Integration of populations » (Axis 1) ; « Enhanced

cooperation of States » (Axis 2) ; and «Human Development » (Axis 8), address peace and

security issues and issues relating to governance and consolidation of democracy in member

States ;

Priority Area 2 [PA2] : Deepening economic integration would include the «Monetary

and Financial Integration» (Axis 7) and part of the « cooperation of States » (Axis 2)

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concerning multilateral surveillance issues, tax harmonisation, trade and harmonisation of

customs, harmonisation of investment codes, etc. ;

Priority Area 3 [PA3] : Infrastructure development and wealth creation would focus on

«common agricultural and industrial policies» (Axis 3), the «interconnection of transport

infrastructure» (Axis 4), the «interconnection of ICT» (Axis 5), the « interconnection of

energy and water» (Axis 6) and « Research & Development and innovation » (Axis 9) and

finally, «natural resources and environment » (Axis 10);

Priority Area 4 [PA4] : Cooperation and financing refer to financing development

programmes, this would take into account internal mobilisation of resources at regional level,

issues related to public-private partnership, aspects of international cooperation, including

South-South cooperation especially with the new emerging countries, triangular cooperation,

North-South cooperation, etc.

CHAPTER IV : INVENTORY AND PRIORITISATION OF PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS

Issues and challenges of development and integration of West Africa have highlighted, among

other things, the low consistency of regional initiatives. Thus, the search for better consistency

calls for synergy to be strengthened between the main development actors in the ECOWAS

region who continue to make efforts to bring the region to new and more spread out dimensions.

In response to this constraint, the actors are committed to sharing their thoughts and initiatives,

through a broad participatory, integrated and inclusive process, coordinated by the ECOWAS

CDP. In connection with the search for consistency, inventory and prioritisation of development

programmes and projects are considered, ultimately, as a foundation on which to build the CDP.

Indeed, a review of existing development initiatives identifies the scope and limitations of all

existing projects in the Region. In such a case, the prioritisation methodology applied guides the

selection of development projects that respond effectively to the objectives of the ECOWAS

Vision 2020. Taking into account existing and prioritised projects, a gap analysis, in relation to

the objectives of the Vision, leads to identifying additional projects to be developed and

implemented in the medium and long term, in order to fully achieve Vision 2020.

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4.1. Existing programmes and projects in West Africa One of the historic achievements of this process of formulating the CDP is the inventory of

existing development programmes and projects in the Region. Based on the logic of consistency,

the CDP could not disregard this stage which has the merit of revealing the potential of

initiatives to the credit of the Region and to clarify their dynamics, their multi-disciplinary and

multi-sectoral nature. The inventory was conducted both at Member State level and at the level

of IGOs whose activities benefit at least two Member States of ECOWAS. NSA initiatives to

support the implementation of the CDP are also taken into account and examined.

Although development programmes have been identified with their projects, the level of analysis

conducted in the CDP is the development project. This choice does not only meet the desire to

focus directly on specific objectives that are more specific and easily measurable, but also meets

the need to ensure consistency between development initiatives. A programme is a sum of

projects whose implementation helps to achieve an overall objective, while a project is a set of

activities whose implementation is aimed at a given specific objective within a given time.

Development25 initiatives considered in the CDP are feasible activities at once, with a

determined beginning and an end, and which aim to create a product or a unique knowledge to

overcome the shortcomings, weaknesses and structural problems revealed by the diagnostics of

development and regional integration.

4.1.1. Analysis of existing projects according to member States, IGOs, and NSAs The inventory of existing development programmes and projects in the ECOWAS region is

drawn from several sources: national inventory studies, regional study of inventory that

conducted a survey of IGOs, including the Commission and the specialized institutions of

ECOWAS, and the projects proposed by NSAs. National inventory studies have been conducted

and validated in all member States of ECOWAS. At the level of IGOs, regional study of

                                                            25 This is where one can tell the difference between the annual activities that fall within the regular operation and continuous structures and those that are only attached to a project and bound by a specified date to start and end. Such activities disappear once the project is completed.

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inventory and prioritisation of regional development programmes helped to collect regional

initiatives through the survey whose methodology has been validated by the stakeholders. As

part of this survey, all the specialised institutions of ECOWAS and the ECOWAS Commission

Directorates were also covered. The results of this study have been validated by stakeholders.

NSAs have, for their part, proposed in a variety of forms initiatives that they intend to undertake

to support the CDP in an action plan, which was subsequently taken up again as project

proposals.

The identification of existing development projects with capacity to integrate the ECOWAS

region reveal a total of 1,511 projects, including 669 for the Member States, 819 for IGOs and

Specialised Institutions and 23 for NSAs.

Graph 44 : Distribution of projects per main development stakeholders

Sources : National CDP Studies, Regional CDP Study, ECOWAS Commission / Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit, 2012. At the level of ECOWAS Member States, Seven States out of fifteen, account for 80.3% of the

820 integration-based national projects submitted to the CDP. But the total number of projects

varies from one country to another and reveals some disparities. Indeed, Senegal (16.6%),

Nigeria (14.2%), Sierra Leone (11.5%), Côte d'Ivoire (11.4%), Ghana (9.4%), Gambia (9.6%)

and Mali (7.6%) had a greater number of projects. Senegal's case is exceptional in the sense that

an inventory is made of projects, and for the most part, they emanate from regional strategies. 

[819]  

[669]

[23 ] 

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Table 12 : Distribution of projects per Member State Member States Number of Projects Frequency Benin 28 4.2% Burkina Faso 17 2.5% Cape Verde 4 0.6% Côte d'Ivoire 76 11.4% Gambia 64 9.6% Ghana 63 9.4% Guinea 15 2.2% Guinea Bissau 11 1.6% Liberia 19 2.8% Mali 51 7.6% Niger 23 3.4% Nigeria 95 14.2% Senegal 111 16.6% Sierra Leone 77 11.5% Togo 15 2.2% Total 669 100.0%

Sources National: CDP Studies, Regional CDP Study, ECOWAS Commission / Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit

With regard to IGOs and Specialised Institutions, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) such

as ECOWAS and UEMOA are those that have the largest number of projects among IGOs, and

their various Commissions respectively account for 45.9% and 12.4% of projects collected. This

predominance is explained by the larger number of countries covered by these RECs, the size of

their respective annual budgets, as well as the diversity of their areas of intervention. CILSS

(7.2%), including its two specialised institutions namely, AGRHYMET and INSAH, ranks third

among IGOs with high number of projects, for reasons quite similar to the previous ones

Table 13 : Distribution of projects under IGOs and Specialised Institutions

IGOs and Specialised Institutions Number of

Projects Frequency ABN 14 1.7% ACMAD 13 1.6% AFRICARICE 33 4.0% AFRISTAT 5 0.6% ALG 27 3.3% AMOA/WAMA 6 0.7% ASECNA 17 2.1% BCEAO 2 0.2% CCDG 5 0.6% CCRE 10 1.2% CDJS 11 1.3%

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CEDEAO/ECOWAS 376 45.9% CILSS 59 7.2% ECREEE 17 2.1% GIABA 6 0.7% IMAO / WAMI 7 0.9% OMVG 5 0.6% OMVS 1 0.1% OOAS/WAHO 3 0.4% RECTAS 2 0.2% UEMOA 102 12.4% UFM/MRU 22 2.7% WABA 5 0.6% WAPP 41 5.0% ADB 30 3.8% Total 819 100.0%

Sources : Regional CDP Study, ECOWAS Commission / Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit

ECOWAS is analysed in more detail because of its vastness. By adding its ten specialised

agencies and institutions that participated in the survey, it accounts for 59.4% of projects of

IGOs, representing a total of 487 projects. As stated in their work descriptions, these specialized

institutions and agencies are set up by ECOWAS to develop a given specific sector and meet

specific needs. ECOWAS projects (Commission, specialised institutions and agencies) however,

are concentrated at 77.2% in the portfolio of the ECOWAS Commission, as indicated in the table

below.

Table 14 : Distribution of projects of ECOWAS, Specialised Institutions and Agencies

IGOs and Specialized Institutions Number of

Projects Frequency CEDEAO/ECOWAS 376 77.2% AMOA/WAMA 6 1.2% CCDG 5 1.0% CCRE 10 2.1% CDJS 11 2.3% ECREEE 17 3.5% GIABA 6 1.2% IMAO / WAMI 7 1.4% OOAS/WAHO 3 0.6% WABA 5 1.0% WAPP 41 8.4% Total 487 100.0%

Sources : Regional CDP Study, ECOWAS Commission / Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit

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At the ECOWAS Commission, the large volume of existing projects (376 in total) embodies the

will of the institution to address some recurring development problems in the Region and in

particular, regional integration.

In this project landscape, the Regional Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (RSPPR) steered by

the Research and Statistics Directorate contains 88 projects from all Departments of ECOWAS,

some of its specialized institutions such as WAPP and the first generation projects of the

Regional Economic Programme (PER I) of the UEMOA Commission. Projects in the Transport

and Telecommunications sector account for the highest number at sector level, and such projects

constitute 18.6% of the portfolio of projects of the Commission. This relatively high proportion

indicates the prominence given by the Community to improving infrastructure, because of its

expected positive effects on free movement of goods and people and the development of trade

within and outside the region. With regard to energy infrastructure projects, the low proportion

of projects undertaken directly by the Department of Energy is justified by its more focused

coordinating role. The main projects of the Community in this field come from specialised

agencies - WAPP and ECREEE - representing respectively 8.4% and 3.5% of existing

infrastructure projects in the ECOWAS region. 

Projects in the "Agriculture and Rural Development" sector represent 10.4% of Commission

projects. This relatively high proportion indicates another development priority being highlighted

from the viewpoint of the number of projects. Then projects under the Directorates follow in this

sequence "Gender, youth, civil society, employment and drug control" (7.7%), "Trade" (7.7%)

and "Industry and Mines" 6.4%.

Thus, the Community marks its strong determination to continue its development endeavours, by

increasing its efforts in the areas of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications, Agriculture,

Industry and Mines. In the same way, the Community continues to engage in projects for

political and economic integration, with projects under these Directorates - "Multilateral

Surveillance" (4.8%), "Free Movement and Tourism" (3.2%) and "Political Affairs "(2.9%).

These projects are aiming essentially at the consolidation of governance, the promotion of peace

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and socio-political stability, free movement of persons, goods and capital, the creation of a

common market and the introduction of a single currency.

Table 15: Distribution of projects within the ECOWAS Commission

Department Directorates Number of

Projects Frequency PRESIDENCY Legal Affairs 7 1.9%

TRADE, CUSTOMS & FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS

Trade 29 7.7% Industry and Mines 24 6.4% Customs 5 1.3% Free movement and Tourism 12 3.2%

MACRO-ECONOMIC POLICY

Multilateral Surveillance 11 2.9% Private Sector 10 2.7% EPAU 1 0.3% Research and Statistics 5 1.3% CDP Unit NA NA

RSPPR 88 23.4% AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT & WATER RESOURCES

Agriculture & Rural Development 39 10.4% Environment 2 0.5%

POLITICAL AFFAIRS, PEACE & SECURITY

Political Affairs 18 4.8% Early warning 3 0.8% Peace and Regional Security 2 0.5%

INFRASTRUCTURE Transport et Telecommunications 70 18.6% Energy 3 0.8%

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER

Education, Culture, Science and Technology 12 3.2%

Gender, Youth, CSOs, Employment and Drug Control 29 7.7% Humanitarian & Social Affairs 6 1.6%

Total 376 100.0% Sources: Regional CDP Study, ECOWAS Commission / Macro-economic Policy Department / CDP Unit

4.1.2. Analysis of existing projects per strategic axis

In terms of concentration of projects per strategic axis, axis 3 - “Common Agricultural and

Industrial Policy " covers 21.7% of existing projects. In addition, considering strategic axis 4 -

"Interconnection of Transport Infrastructure", the pair formed by the two axes contains 45.9% of

projects. However, the five strategic axes 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 account for 83% of existing projects

according to the inventory taken, leaving only 17% of projects for the other five strategic axes.

The strong predominance of projects in these five strategic axes (2, 3, 4, 6 and 8) shows strategic

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preferences in terms of investment by major stakeholders in the development of the ECOWAS

region.  

The decision to develop a significant number of projects in the agricultural and industrial sectors

is in response, first, to the fact that it is necessary to satisfy the primary subsistence needs of the

people and, by extension, guarantee sustainable food security in the light of the resurgence and

increasing number of food crises. Secondly, the need to accelerate the process of industrialisation

in West African States with the view to boosting value addition of their economies, becomes

important in an increasingly demanding environment of globalisation in terms of

competitiveness. Indeed, the traditionally agricultural economies of Member States of ECOWAS

are still making no headway in a long transition phase toward an industrial economy. By

focusing on the agricultural and industrial sectors, the Community must increase its chances of

improving the productivity gains in agriculture to generate a more abundant range of subsistence

products and recover surplus revenue from the agricultural surplus to finance its industrial

development.

The further development of agriculture and industry in West Africa makes it imperative to

provide a level of operational, modern and quality infrastructure interconnecting capitals and

major urban centres of the Member States. The infrastructure interconnection involves on the

whole, 38.6% of existing projects according to inventory taken. These efforts toward investments

in infrastructure development projects constitute a response to the revelation from the inventory

taken, that there is a lack of adequate infrastructure in West Africa. Indeed, the Economic

Community of West African States no longer hides its ambitions to stop lagging behind in this

area in order to be in tune with the emerging economies envisioned by the Member States. Thus,

the Region counts strongly on the interconnection of transport infrastructure where 24.2% of

existing projects, representing 62.6% of infrastructure interconnection projects, are included in

the transformation agenda of ECOWAS. Similarly, the energy and water interconnection is

identified as a strategic issue for the Region, given the role played by energy and water in the

production activities of enterprises and household consumption. Projects in this strategic axis are

also related to energy and water production, and they represent 12.7% of existing projects and

32.9% of the infrastructure interconnection projects.

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Development projects implemented in the fields of agriculture, industry and infrastructure are

not sufficient by themselves alone to trigger an irreversible development of the Community as a

whole. Indeed, the Community consists of fifteen States with specific realities, different

potentials and individual visions, and it is stronger if it pools its diversity by taking advantage of

the large market that is created by a complete Economic and Monetary Union of its Member

States.

Thus, the Community has undertaken major reforms to boost projects leading to a customs

union, then to economic and monetary union, through the integration of populations (strategic

axis1), increased cooperation of States (strategic axis 2) and a monetary and financial integration

(strategic axis 7).

Strategic axes 1, 2 and 7 account for 18.2% of the existing projects in the ECOWAS region. The

strategic axis - “Enhanced cooperation of States" is mobilising 13.5% of existing projects and is

by far the most extensive compared to strategic axes "integration of peoples" and "Monetary and

Financial Integration". It highlights the willingness of Member States themselves to make

regional integration work. This strategic axis includes projects related to governance, peace and

security, customs, trade, macroeconomics, etc. These projects are expected to enhance the

effectiveness of existing ones in strategic axes 1 and 7 which relate respectively, to strengthening

free movement of persons, management of migration and development of tourism on the one

hand and, on the other hand, banking, monetary and financial reforms.

It is only when work is available and properly distributed, in good numbers and quality, that the

implementation of regional development and integration projects will be successful. To this end,

actions undertaken to ensure human development complement all other efforts in the pipeline to

support harmonious regional development. In view of the positioning of the strategic axis 8

“human development” entailing 10.9% of existing projects enumerated, closely behind the

strategic axes of “interconnection of transport infrastructure”, “common agricultural and

industrial policy”, and “enhanced cooperation of States”, the Community asserts that it is

resolutely committed to joining the comity of major economic blocs.

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In a bid to ensure development and meet the well-being aspirations of its peoples, the Region has

also endeavoured to implement an appreciable number of research-development and

environmental projects. Thus, the 9th strategic axis “research-development and the environment”

and the 10th strategic axis “natural resources and the environment” absorb 2.6% and 8%

respectively of existing projects identified.

The fact that the various strategic axes of the CDP entail several projects is a pointer to the

willingness of the Community to ensure regional development and integration, by

simultaneously addressing structural issues that impede progress in all sectors. On the whole,

however, the implementation of existing projects seems somewhat truncated and lacks

consistency. It is often difficult to ascertain expected outcomes of the various projects in the

overall context of regional transformation. It is, therefore, necessary to re-think the structuring of

projects under the CDP, so as to highlight the contribution of projects of various development

actors of ECOWAS, at the end of the prioritisation and addition of supplementary projects.

Graph 45: Distribution of projects per strategic axes

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Sources: Regional CDP study, ECOWAS Commission/Macro-economic policy Department/CDP Unit

4.1.3. Analysis of existing projects by priority area While the CDP defines four priority areas, existing Community projects have been shared over

the first three priority areas. Project analysis according to priority area, therefore, shows a 70.9%

concentration of these existing projects in priority area 3 “Development of infrastructure and

wealth creation”. The configuration in this priority area is due, particularly, to the strong

dominance of projects in the agricultural and industrial sectors (30.6%), and those of transport

infrastructure interconnections (34.1%), as well as energy and water (17.9%). Projects relating to

research-development and innovation (3.6%) and to natural resources and the environment

(11.3%) are not many in this priority area.

Priority area 1 “integration of peoples, governance and human development” and priority area 2

“deepening economic integration” account for 17.5% and 11.6% respectively of existing

projects. Priority area 1 is dominated by projects centred on human development (62.5%),

against 14.4% for projects on integration of peoples and 23.1% for projects on the policy of

enhanced cooperation among States. With regard to priority area 2, it comprises up to 81.3% of

economic-related component of enhanced cooperation among States.

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Figure 46: Distribution of projects by priority area

Sources: Regional CDP Study, ECOWAS Commission/Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP Unit

4.2. Prioritisation of existing projects

The list of existing programmes and projects shows several ongoing development initiatives in

member States, in regional institutions and organisations within the ECOWAS sub-region, as

well as new initiatives proposed by non-State actors. While giving credence to the potential of all

these initiatives, the CDP does not put them on the same pedestal in terms of designing a long-

term strategy for the Region. Of course, the existing initiatives meet some important targeted

objectives, but not all of them are necessary for the achievement of the goals outlined in Vision

2020. They need, therefore, to be prioritised and selected, not only on the basis of essential needs

for accelerating regional development, but also on the basis of other constraints relating to some

logical aspects of the regional strategy to be put in place. This regional strategy is based on the

design of projects, in line with the logic of objectivity with respect to Vision 2020; logic of

consistency and interaction among projects; a financial logic and a time-frame logic for project

implementation.

4.2.1. Justification of the prioritisation

[1072]  [176] 

[263]

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Prioritisation was carried out, based on the following logical criteria: objectivity, consistency and

interaction, financial logic and timeframe.

Logic of objectivity

Projects making up the long-term regional development strategy of the Region should be able to

produce concrete results, with the total effects positioning the Region on the uninterrupted and

irreversible path of sustainable development. Initiatives must, therefore, contribute in a tangible

way to achieve the strategic objectives of the priority areas of the CDP. Value-addition must be

perceptible to the extent that created wealth adds to enhancing the well-being of the population

in a context of general and dispersed progress in the Region.

Logic of consistency and interaction

Even where all development initiatives are indispensable, the logic of consistency and interaction

within projects must ensure that their design is not done in a haphazard manner, that is by mere

juxtaposition, just because they are related to a strategic axis. It would, rather be desirable that

initiatives are reorganised and channelled in a way that ensures that their implementation helps

directly in producing value-addition that enhances the achievement of strategic objectives of

priority areas, and consequently the attainment of total regional integration and effective

development of the Region.

Financial logic

Financial logic suggests that a financial constraint to financing the CDP must be ascertained, in

view of the structural weakness of savings in the region as well as the limited autonomous

financial resources and constraints related to external funding. The financing package for all the

projects must, as a matter of necessity, take into account the Region’s resource mobilisation

capacity.

Logic of time-frame

Under the long-term regional development strategy of the Region, all initiatives do not have the

same priority at the same time, in terms of implementation. Besides, some initiatives are not

157 

 

necessarily of high priority for the region. In some other cases, projects may not be selected for

short-term implementation, due to their low maturity which does not favour their inclusion in the

fund sourcing process, despite their urgency. Indeed, in the normal finalisation process of some

projects, particularly development projects with recoverable monetary proceeds, a project design

cycle must be strictly ensured and complied with so as to guarantee proper implementation and

the achievement of objectives. For these projects, if all stages of the preparatory phase are not

finalised, the project implementation phase will be pushed to a farther timeframe, and the study

phase moved to the short-term.

4.2.2. Prioritisation criteria of IGO projects and of member States

Prioritisation criteria of regional institutions and organisations for the CDP

The choice of CDP projects underwent methodical analysis, in line with criteria and indicators,

the adoption of which was subject to approval by the main development stakeholders of the

Region. In view of the reality, and in response to the in-built consistency logic in the CDP,

adjustments were later on made for final selection of development initiatives. Table 16 shows the

criteria in question and corresponding indicators.

Table 16: criteria and indicators for prioritising programmes and projects Criteria Indicator Relevance of project in relation to objectives of the axis

Number of strategic axes of CDP covered by project Number of objectives of main axis covered by project

Integrating nature of project Number of beneficiary countries Relation to a regional strategy

Project implementation Level of project preparation Level of project implementation

Fund mobilisation for project Rate of mobilisation

Economic criteria Internal profitability rate Economic return rate

Social impact Number of people impacted by project

Environmental impact Seriousness of environmental impact (non-existent, average, low) Avoidance cost

Sources: Regional CDP study, ECOWAS Commission/Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP unit

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Criteria selection is not casually done, but in line with the rationale of the regional development

strategy. Project relevance in relation to the objectives of the axis comes closer to highlighting

the dynamics of objectivity and consistency. The difficulty in quantitatively translating this

criterion into a measurable factor was overcome as a result of the choice of two approximate

indicators, namely, “the number of strategic axes of the CDP covered by the project” and “the

number of objectives of the main axis covered by the project”. These indicators underscore the

idea that project objectives must be consistent with those of the strategic axis of the CDP, from

which they derive. The “integrating nature of project” criterion was selected to maintain the

regional scope of the project. Indicators of “number of project beneficiary countries” and

“relation to a regional strategy” show to what extent two member States, at least, may take

advantage of outcomes of project implementation.

In relation to the timeframe logic, emphasis is placed on the “project implementation” criterion,

the goal being to distinguish projects in the identification or formulation phase from those in the

implementation phase. The objective of the two indicators “level of project preparation” and

“level of project implementation” of this criterion is to take into account the maturity level of the

project. The choice of projects in line with maturity level is necessitated by the desire of CDP to

enhance the level of fund absorption by projects and further improve the well-being of the

population. For this reason, projects with a high preparation level or a low implementation level

are priority ones.

The CDP gives priority to projects that are yet to be financed or have a financing need, that is

with a resource mobilisation rate of less than 100%. While it is laudable to project broadening

the base of funded projects, by offering opportunities to projects that have a low mobilisation

rate, it is still paramount that, in view of the financial logic, the focus must be on relevant

projects that are integrating in nature and have high mobilisation rates. However, for obvious

reasons linked to the consistency of regional projects for achieving Vision 2020 objectives,

projects whose financing is 100% obtainable and produce positive external outcomes for other

projects or which have value-addition directly contributing to the achievement of one or several

objectives of Vision 2020, will be deemed priority.

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Economic criteria, social impact and environmental impact are specific criteria which only apply

to development projects whose studies in the preparation phase require analyses. These are, for

instance, infrastructure projects. Economic criterion indicators allow both economic and internal

profitability of the project to be taken into account. Social impact is measured by the number of

beneficiaries of the project. Lastly, in a context characterised by general negative climatic

changes and the well-being of present and future generations, promoting more ecological

projects requires that the environmental impact of certain activities be underscored.

Criteria for prioritising national projects of member States

The selection of national projects of member States follows a pattern that is similar to that of

IGOs and specialised institutions. To this end, criteria and indicators of table 17 were submitted

to member States for their views. Table 17: Criteria and indicators selected for prioritisation of national CDP projects26 Criteria Indicators

Relevance of project in relation to CDP

Number of axes covered by project Number of objectives related to project and to one or some CDP axes

Mobilisation of financing for project

Rate of mobilisation of financing State share in financing (national counterpart)

Status of project implementation

Level of project preparation Level of actual project execution Level of financial execution of project

Sources: Regional CDP study, ECOWAS Commission/Macroeconomic policy department/CDP Unit

As the CDP’s mandate is not to undertake development in place of member States, but to find

regional solutions, the Community brings on board only national projects that are integrating in

nature into its long-term regional development strategy. Thus, with respect to the implementation

of such projects, member States, while pursuing their individual interests, contribute to

enhancing the collective interest of the Region. A case in point is the construction of an

                                                            26 The value of indicators is provided by national CDP documents. Countries provided information on each indicator in the national CDP document. In the case where no information is provided on an indicator for a given project, a 0 grade is given for the project in question. The methodology above is applied to all CDP eligible projects.

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international highway, with part of the trunk road situated on the territory of a member State.

This stretch of road is under the national initiative of this State. The Community, in this case is

ready to facilitate and promote the financing and implementation of this project. It may also have

to do with projects whose outcomes are likely to benefit at least two member States, or

contribute to the achievement of at least one policy objective or regional strategy objective

linked to ECOWAS Vision 2020.

The first stage of selection consisted in identifying national projects that are eligible for CDP.

But, since all these projects contribute, at varied degrees, to achieving objectives of the regional

programme, and in view of financial constraints, it seemed necessary to undertake a second

screening of national eligible projects, according to their importance and in line with

prioritisation criteria.

Three criteria were selected for classifying national projects that are eligible under the CDP:

relevance of project in relation to CDP, project financing mobilisation and status of project

implementation. The relevance of a project in relation to CDP is underscored by two indicators:

number of axes covered by project and number of objectives common to project or to one or

several of the CDP axes. Resource mobilisation effort is measured by the overall mobilisation

rate and the share of State in financing or national counterpart financing. Progress made in

implementation is ascertained by the level of preparation, physical execution and financial

execution of the project. There are a set of reasons underlying the choice of each of the criteria and selected indicators.

The criterion “Relevance of project in relation to CDP” allows for the prioritisation of projects,

whose objectives, in whole or in part, are in line with the objectives of the strategic axes of the

CDP. These are projects whose implementation contributes to achieving Vision 2020 of the

region. The criterion “level of mobilisation of project financing” is justified by the fact that CDP

must promote projects that are yet to have financing or projects with relatively high financing

needs. The State must show commitment to the project by significantly contributing to its

financing. The criterion “Status of project implementation” decommissions projects that end

before or just after the actual start-up of the CDP. Emphasis is rather put on projects whose

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technical and financial execution of majority of activities will take place during the early years of

implementation of the regional programme.

Box 02: Construction of a composite index for classifying eligible national projects

The methodology for aggregating indicators and criteria follows the same approach as the one used by international institutions for building a synthetic index. The choice of a small set of indicators which is easily interpreted allows for concentration both on a direct comparison of different indicators and on an aggregated score (total).

Generally, the advantage of merging indicators into a single one is obvious; it provides a clear classification of projects, which is easy to understand. Besides, it has the potential of reducing measurement errors in the series of indicators. It must be recognised that if the theoretical bases guiding aggregation are not very clear, the real meaning and interpretation of classification will not be very obvious. But these objections are relegated to the background when it comes to the practical solution the aggregation puts forth, in terms of simultaneously taking into account several facets of a phenomenon to base an opinion on the latter.

For example, the indices « Doing Business », from the UNDP human development index, are built on the same approach as the one proposed for the classification of country projects.

The most common choice for building a composite index stems from the use of equal and fixed weights when it is about weighting the various indicators. There is no analytical justification of this choice, but its transparency properties are often brought into play. Each indicator is standardised, using the min-max function. Another choice consists in standardising the value of these indicators by using the function Φ(xk)=[xk–[min(xk)]/[(max(xk)–min(xk)], i.e. a min-max transformational function which allows for changing each variable into one that is uniformly distributed between 0 and 1.Besides the advantage of distribution between 0 and 1 of all indicators, this transformation cancels out the indicator units in such a way that they are directly comparable.

The index of dimension d, called sub-index Id, is defined as follows:

Id = (xk)| category = d),

Where Kd is the number of indicators in the dimension (criteria) d.

Finally, one may take an average of indices of all dimensions, called IAg, to obtain a classification of projects, i.e.:

IAg= . In this formula, n represents the number of criteria.

The aggregated indicator is between 0 and 1; projects with values close to 1 have the highest priority. This aggregated index is between 0 and 1. Projects are, therefore, classified by “high priority” to “low

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priority”. A determined threshold on the basis of the CDP budget will help to select projects so that the amount of total financing tallies with the amount CDP can mobilise.

Source: CRES and ECOWAS Commission/Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP Unit, 2012

4.3. Selected Programmes and projects for CDP:

The CDP, as a long-term regional development strategy for the ECOWAS Region, is broken

down into three main sets of programmes according to the project implementation timeline. The

latter does not allude to the duration or extent of projects, but rather the immediacy of their

implementation, due to the level of maturity in the project design cycle and available financing,

but also in relation to the possibility of presenting these projects to the Donor Round Table, with

a view to mobilising the needed funds for their implementation.

CDP programmes and projects, listed in Volume 2 of the regional CDP document in annex, are

in line with the logic of short, medium and long term programming.

Short-term programme:

Short-term programmes are projects whose level of maturity is very close, that is to say, projects

whose preparation and study phases are completed, and are awaiting financing. They also

include projects which have started benefiting from partial financing, but whose rate of

mobilisation remains low for start-up of implementation. This supposes that projects of this type

have already gone through the study and preparation phases successfully. Finally, these short-

term programmes have to do with projects that have already reached a 100% mobilisation rate,

and are in the implementation phase, but whose expected outcomes are important for establishing

the overall consistency of the long-term regional development strategy. The inclusion of these

types of projects under the CDP stems from the fact that it is necessary to follow up on these

projects to ensure their smooth implementation. Indeed, the concern is that an abrupt halt to their

implementation or a faulty execution could impede the achievement of CDP objectives, hence

the ECOWAS Vision 2020. Therefore, emphasis will be put on these short-term programmes in

the first generation of CDP projects.

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Medium-term programme

Medium-term programmes are to group projects whose implementation is deferred by five years,

due to their low maturity level. While these projects are important for achieving Vision 2020,

their implementation periods are around 2020. These programmes may, therefore, contain

projects which have gone through the identification stage and may necessitate programming to

start up studies prior to implementation. The selection of these important projects in the CDP

allows for project start-up or acceleration of critical studies with the view to sourcing for

funding.

Long-term programme

Long-term CDP programmes are projects that are deemed indispensable for development of the

Region, but whose preparation and implementation cannot be achieved, neither in the short nor

medium term, due to their low opportunity costs for immediately improving the well-being of the

population. However, these projects, which are beyond even Vision 2020, may be classified in

subsequent programming to target an overall emergence of the ECOWAS Region. Anticipating

these ambitious ECOWAS projects is in line with plans to immediately forestall impediments to

the development of the Region, and create conditions that are necessary for future consideration

of these projects, which should no longer appear as remote dreams, but feasible projects at

opportune times.

4.4. Analysis of projects selected for the CDP Projects in the matrix, contained in the annex are the outcome of two selection methods. The first

is related to the application of a statistical technique for classifying projects on the basis of a

composite indicator, calculated from the evaluation of project prioritisation indicators criteria. It

is obvious that such a method, albeit scientific, does not help in automatically selecting projects

that meet development objectives of CDP, and hence those of Vision 2020. That is why the

second method, which is in line with a normative approach, helps in examining the classification

of projects from the first method, and proceeds by successively eliminating some projects,

following a qualitative analysis of projects, depending on their relevance, integrating nature and

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their level of maturity; it then adds, through the same analysis, those which are capable of

producing more direct or indirect impacts contributing to the achievement of desired objectives.

4.4.1. Analysis of selected projects per actor, strategic axis and priority area

The matrix of prioritised projects for CDP is presented by priority area and strategic objectives.

It specifies projects, actors in charge of their implementation, costs and project cycle phase

where the projects have reached at the time of inventory, as well as the regional strategy which

drives them.

On the whole, the CDP compact provisionally presents 516 projects, with 100 of them from

member States, 403 from Intergovernmental Organisations and 13 from non-State actors. Most

of the projects in member States come from IGO initiatives. This situation affirms the notion that

projects are implemented at member State level, even when they are drawn up by IGOs. It is,

therefore, imperative to ensure that member States actually get interested in IGO projects to

ensure that they are taken into account in the conventional, short and medium-term planning

instruments and in the budgets of member States.

By strategic axis and priority area, it is clear that priority area 3: “Infrastructure development and

wealth creation”, though representing 70.3% of selected projects, will absorb 94.6% of

resources. Thus, this huge area accounts for the big projects that generally entail high costs,

namely, infrastructure, investment in agriculture, industry, research-development, and even the

environmental and natural resource sector. Under this priority area, projects under the

interconnection of transport infrastructure, accounting for 22.7% of prioritised projects, take a

67.1% share of the overall cost of CDP financing, against 21.3% of projects for common

industrial and agricultural policy, which take only 3.9% of overall cost. The interconnection of

water and energy infrastructure is the second axis, in terms of cost, and accounts for 19.1% of

overall cost for only 13.8% of CDP projects.

Priority area 1 “Integration of people, governance and human development” and priority area 2

“Deepening economic integration” account for 14.4% and 15.3% respectively of selected

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projects. These areas, which are deeply centred on conditions for creating a stable and viable

socio-political and economic environment; a safe and conducive place for business, account for

only 5.3% of overall cost. However, this level of cost distribution may be justified by the fact

that these areas are more centred on implementing reforms, except, particularly for most of the

projects under the human development axis.

Table 18: Distribution of prioritised projects and their cost according to priority area

Priority Area Strategic axis Effective Projects

Percentage Cost (millions USD) Percentage

Priority area 1 (PA1)

Strategic axis 1 17 3.29% 45.8 0.05%

Strategic axis 2a 20 3.88% 85.6 0.10%

Strategic axis 8 38 7.36% 1,323.6 1.48%

Sub‐ Total PA1  75 14.53% 1,455.1 1.63%

Priority area 2 (PA2) Strategic axis 2b 55 10.66% 3,164.2 3.55%

Strategic axis 7 24 4.65% 179.1 0.20%

Sub‐Total PA 2  79 15.31% 3,343.2 3.75%

Priority area 3 (PA3)

Strategic axis 3 110 21.32% 3,514.1 3.94%

Strategic axis 4 117 22.67% 59,803.0 67.09%

Strategic axis 5 11 2.13% 374.6 0.42%

Strategic axis 6 71 13.76% 17,015.7 19.09%

Strategic axis 9 23 4.46% 1,468.7 1.65%

Strategic axis 10 30 5.81% 2,163.5 2.43%

Sub‐Total PA 3  362 70.16% 84,339.7 94.62%

 Grand Total     516 100.00% 89,138.0   100.00%Source: ECOWAS Commission/Macroeconomic policy Department/CDP Unit

4.4.2. Handling project costs

The overall cost of financing the 516 projects is tentatively put at 89 138 million USD. This

financing accounts for 19.3% of the theoretical cost estimated at 463 000 million USD,

representing the resources that the Region should mobilise for financing these investments in

order to attain the emerging country status (see box 3). However, these pieces of information on

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total cost of projects for each strategy, and the overall cost of projects selected for the CDP, are

not comprehensive, and therefore do not represent the actual total cost of implementing

strategies. Indeed, due to partial information provided by actors on the cost or often due to the

low appreciation of these costs, some projects could not be evaluated. Their values are, therefore,

not accounted for in the various costs appearing in the matrix. The final values of these costs will

be stated in a future version, only after in-depth consultations with the various stakeholders on

selected projects. Through these consultations, information could also be obtained on the extent

to which initiatives, similar to those of other stakeholders, have been taken into account, so as to

better control costs according to projects and to avoid duplications in their evaluation, due to

their similarities.

The regional project inventory and prioritisation exercise brought to the fore the need to match

up the projects of principal stakeholders of the region. This matching brings up several similar

projects that are found at the same time in the various regional strategies or in the portfolio of

different actors. Though project repetition underscores their importance for the region, the fact

still remains that their cost assessment really poses a problem. Indeed, not only are cost estimates

for one and same project varied from one actor to another, but also the allocation of resources for

implementation of these projects under a regional strategy, independently of another strategy,

may lead to waste of resources. The CDP will, in its approach, contribute to reducing this waste,

thereby rationalising the use of the region’s resources.

And so it might be necessary for the CDP, which is responsible for coordinating and ensuring

consistency of regional initiatives, to embark on additional in-depth consultations with these

main actors to ensure better coherence of all these regional integration and development

initiatives in the ECOWAS region. These consultations, which will help establish project

technical sheets, will also be used for analysis of these duplicated initiatives with the actors in

question. The objective will be to succeed, through dialogue, in eliminating duplications, or else

arrive at a better understanding of the role of each actor in project implementation, as well as

better definition of project components considered in each strategy or as far as each actor

involved is concerned.

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Box 3: Cost of CDP: Estimation of financing needs for ECOWAS region The CDP intends making countries of the region emerging countries in an environment which is more attractive for foreign investments. The determination of the level of financial resources to be mobilised for such a programme can quickly turn into a challenge. Given that the CDP is mostly an investment programme, the economic documentation, through balanced growth theories, offers several models that explain the link between the level of investment and that of growth. One of these models emanating from the work of Harrod (1939, 1948) and Domar (1946) explains that the economic growth rate corresponds to the ratio between the level of investment and the capital coefficient, i.e.:

(1)

Where corresponds to the growth rate of GDP, the level of investment, and the capital coefficient.

In the relation (1), corresponds to return on capital. A high and sustained growth rate implies a high

return on capital or/and that of savings rate. If the change of return on capital depends on several factors (see box on factors of endogenous growth) and can only be a long-term objective; by contrast, the CDP may set itself the objective, by 2020, of achieving a quantum of capital through labour by increasing the rate of investment. A method that could be used to determine the level of investment needed for countries of the region to be at the same level of investment as emerging countries would be to reproduce in the region, the dynamics of investment rate of these countries. Countries of South-East Asia in particular could be considered. The figure below shows the trend of the rate of investment and that of the South-East Asia region. It shows that the two regions had an investment rate that was quite close over the first decade after the independence of African countries. But from 1970 to 1980, the investment rate of countries of South-East Asia went up gradually from 19% to 32%, i.e. an increase of 13 percentage points in 10 years. The rate of investment of the ECOWAS region has dropped slightly. To catch up with countries of South-East Asia by 2020, the region should raise the investment rate from 16% to 33% representing a gradual increase by 3% each year between 2013 and 2016, by 2% in 2017, then by 1% between 2018 and 2020. The necessary resources for arriving at such investment levels may be a reference point for defining the theoretical cost of the community development programme.

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Figure 47: Savings rate trend of ECOWAS region and of South East Asia from 1960 - 2020

Source: Calculation based on WDI, 2012 The table below sums up the methodology used for estimating the cost of CDP. The additional rate of savings to look for corresponds to the savings rate needed to catch up with the South East Asian countries. Supposing the regional GDP grows at constant rate of 5% until 2020, additional resources to save each year are presented in column (F). The total of these resources is 463 billion USD over the 2013-2020 period. And so to catch up with South East Asian countries, the region should invest an estimated amount of 463 billion USD by 2020. This required investment is the normative level for the CDP, for the region to attain the status of an emerging economy. Additionally, taking into consideration the capacity of resource mobilisation and also of absorption for the regional economy, the cost of CDP will be limited to cumulated costs of projects and programmes deemed priority for the region, the implementation of which will help achieve the aforementioned objectives of the programme. Source: CRES and ECOWAS Commission/Macroeconomic Policy Department/CDP Unit, 2012

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CHAPTER V: MECHANISM FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT

OF THE CDP

Implementing the CDP is occurring in a context characterised by the consolidation of

institutional changes that happened in 2006, with the transformation of the ECOWAS Secretariat

into a Commission, and the adoption of Vision 2020, the essence of which is to move toward an

ECOWAS of peoples. The restructuring of ECOWAS led to the creation of additional entities

such as the Parliament and the Court of Justice. ECOWAS has, thus, attained the level and

critical configuration that make it more capable of fulfilling its missions.

Besides, a common desire for synergy among the various IGOs of the region is increasingly

being affirmed. These IGOs, more than ever before, see the need to collaborate in a cohesive

manner. There are obvious signs of this interest in their incessant attempts to find partnerships

and common approaches toward a shared vision.

Besides the dynamics, Non-State Actors (NSA) are coming up as indispensable actors of

integration and a critical channel, both at national and regional level, between the grassroots

population and the authorities.

This general context will influence the programming of CDP, as well as its organisational and

legal frameworks.

5.1 Programming and timeframe of the CDP

5.1.1 Programming of the CDP

The CDP is an ECOWAS initiative, but it concerns all institutional stakeholders in West Africa,

whether they are IGOs operating in the field of integration, such as UEMOA, or other

developmental IGOs, or non-State Actors working in the same region. Consequently, the

programming of CDP will take into account this reality, which is both complex and innovative,

but in a more exacting and constraining manner, due to the multiplicity of stakeholders who do

not necessarily have the same vision about the approach and action to be undertaken to address

the challenges of regional integration.

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Though the CDP is a general initiative, its programming should also take into consideration the

fact that there are other major programmes that are being implemented within ECOWAS and

UEMOA, and in all other IGOs. Some of these programmes emanate from regional policies

adopted by ECOWAS or UEMOA, or from more or less relevant ad hoc initiatives of IGOs.

In any case, there is need for the CDP to be harmonised with all these initiatives, so as to ensure

more coherence in the entire programming exercise.

Programmes and projects that will be made part of the Community Development Programme

will come from principal institutional actors working in the ECOWAS region. Three types of

programmes and projects will be considered:

‐ new programmes and projects from ECOWAS, other IGOs, non-State actors and States.

These initiatives will be quite regional in nature, and could be medium and long term;

‐ ongoing programmes and projects to be scaled up, from the spatial or thematic viewpoint:

they will be integrated, in line with selected prioritisation criteria, considering their maturity

level and availability of financing;

‐ coherent programmes or projects that have similar interest areas; this has to do with

developing a collaborative platform among existing or future programmes within the

ECOWAS Commission or among IGOs to make them more efficient and more impactful on

the ground. For instance, the ECOWAS agricultural programme has components that have

strong links with the private sector, which is itself linked to industrial development, without

any real coherence among actors of each of its components. In this case, it will have to do

with developing a platform of collaboration and coherence on the interdependent themes

linking various actors and entities (Commissions, Directorates, IGOs), which will share

responsibility by working, each on their part, on a specific component.

5.1.2 Timeframe of the CDP programmes and projects

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The CDP is a development programme targeting, in the long term, in-depth changes in regional

development and integration, with Vision 2020 as its reference framework. The CDP timeline

will be ten (10) years, with a review sequence after five (5) years.

The equilibrium of any long-term change is linked to economic, social, political and institutional

dynamics, which necessitate short and medium-term actions to achieve long-term objectives. For

this reason, the CDP will be broken down into short, medium and long-term projects,

programmes and activities, according to the urgency and technical sequencing of selected

initiatives.

-Short-term activities

In the short term, actions that will be carried out are projects and programmes that have attained

a level of maturity in their formulation. They will only have to complete their financing for

implementation to be carried out.

What will be left to accomplish is fine-tuning institutional arrangements for projects to be

implemented. This category will include the majority of projects which are proposed by States,

and which contribute, one way or another, to regional integration. In most cases, these projects

are already listed in national investment programmes.

Short-term activities could be carried out in 3-yearly intervals.

Medium-term activities

Some proposed initiatives under the CDP may be relevant, but may not have attained the

required maturity to be quickly considered. They will need additional studies for their

implementation to be embarked upon.

Long-term activities

Long-term activities will have to do with large investment projects; in many cases, these are

initiatives that have not been fleshed out, due to their supposed potential, but lacking real

initiative of structured thought.

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These are huge initiatives which need considerable amount of resources for their formulation and

implementation, but will have the capacity to significantly impact regional integration for

sustainable improvement in the well-being of the population.

5.2 Organisational framework

The organisational framework of the CDP takes into account the traditional bodies of ECOWAS,

as well as steering and implementation bodies. Added to this mechanism is a Committee for

Coordinating Technical and Financial Partners and Donors of the CDP.

Traditional bodies of ECOWAS

These are the Authority of Heads of State and Government, ECOWAS Council of Ministers, and

the Finance and Administration Committee, as well as Expert Committees.

Steering bodies

The CDP institutional mechanism provides for bodies at regional level, in the Commission and

member States.

Regional level

At regional level, the steering body is the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), which is made

up of member States of ECOWAS, of UEMOA, other IGOs and non-State Actors. This

Committee has an important role, in that it provides the major technical, organisational and

operational guidelines of the CDP. It decides on the major programmes by which the CDP and

its schedules should be oriented.

ECOWAS level

• Programme Coordination Committee

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This is an interdepartmental committee for harmonising and ensuring consistency of programmes

of the CDP and all other ECOWAS programmes. It validates programmes selected for the CDP.

• ECOWAS CDP Parliamentary Group

This is a group of the ECOWAS Parliament. It plays an advisory role, which is to develop

initiatives toward strengthening the participation of parliaments in supporting CDP activities. It

may give recommendations on key issues to the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).

National level

At the national level are the CDP National Committees, which are the institutional anchor of the

CDP in each of the member States. They are based on the NEPC/NCC27, broadened to other

sector ministries involved in developing CDP and to non-State actors, namely, civil society,

private and Research sectors.

Implementation and Management Body

The daily management of the CDP is carried out by a Coordination Unit. Its responsibility is to

ensure:

- annual programming of the CDP;

- managing partners with the other IGOs and non-State Actors (NSA) in collaboration with the

ECOWAS Legal Affairs Directorate;

- initiatives for mobilising resources, in collaboration with the ECOWAS External Relations

Directorate;

- technical, administrative and financial management of the Programme;

- coordination of follow-up and evaluation of the CDP, in collaboration with the ECOWAS

follow-up and evaluation Units and the IGOs involved.

                                                            27 NEPC: National Economic Policy Committee. NCC: National Coordination Committee.

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Coordinating Committee for financial and technical partners and CDP donors

Implementing the CDP will require huge financial resources in the States, from ECOWAS,

technical and financial partners as well as financial institutions. To do this, it is important to

coordinate the interventions of all these actors under the Coordination Committee. This

Committee will be steered by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).

5.3 Implementation framework

The diversity and complexity of actors of the CDP call for special mechanisms in its

implementation, based on partnership agreements between the actors. It has to do with formal

agreements between two or several regional entities, which have agreed to cooperate in pursuing

common objectives under the implementation of the CDP.

Four types of agreements will be entered into.

Partnership agreement between the various IGOs of the region

The signing of a Partnership Agreement on CDP (PA-CDP) is envisaged between the thirty IGOs

in the ECOWAS region. This agreement will spell out the areas of cooperation and commitments

of stakeholders in the implementation of the CDP.

Bilateral agreement between ECOWAS and UEMOA on the CDP

Both ECOWAS and UEMOA aim at economic integration but the latter has reached quite an

advanced stage in many aspects, such as the single currency or national policy harmonisation.

Also, it has already instituted a Regional Economic Programme, similar to the CDP, though it

covers only 8 countries. These considerations favour an ECOWAS-UEMOA partnership

agreement on the CDP and the PER. This agreement will define the areas of synergy and

coherence between the CDP and the PER.

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Multilateral agreement between ECOWAS and IGOs

IGOs, according to their comparative advantages, will be called upon for bilateral or multilateral

agreements towards the implementation of some CDP programmes.

Agreement between ECOWAS and NSAs

Not only will Non-State Actors take part in implementing the CDP, they will also have

independent programmes. With each of the NSAs (civil society, private sector and Research), a

partnership agreement will be signed for implementing a particular component of the CDP.

5.4 Follow-up/evaluation mechanism

The aim of the follow-up and evaluation mechanism under the CDP is, to carefully develop a

coordinated set of methods, procedures or rules meant to collect, store, process, analyse and

disseminate information relating to activities in an overall synergy with stakeholders.

This mechanism should make for regular analysis of past achievements, in order to straighten the

path by appropriately adapting activities to the constant changes of the environment, so as to

remain focused on the initial goal, which is Vision 2020, by re-evaluating the objectives, where

necessary.

The multi-actor nature of the CDP (States, NSAs, ECOWAS and its institutions and specialised

Agencies, IGOs) requires a follow-up/evaluation mechanism that takes this complex mould into

consideration. The implementation of the CDP will cut across the entire ECOWAS region, with

the 15 member States, under the responsibility of clearly-identified actors.

Each of the 10 CDP axes and 4 priority areas will be broken down into projects and/or

programmes. For this, there is need for a good, reliable and regular system of follow-up of

activities and of impact assessment. To facilitate follow-up and evaluation of activities, it is

imperative for all actors to be on board, in order to have the same understanding of the

programme and activities to be conducted towards achieving results, as well as the choice of

indicators that should signal progress. The latter should be done through activities that have to be

informed by precise indicators.

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It is for this reason that the follow-up/evaluation mechanism, which is results-based, will be

selected. It will help to put in place a mechanism to permanently question the intervention

approach and programme strategies which will be implemented.

The follow-up of the CDP will be done by the various outfits of CDP.

5.4.1 Follow-up

For good follow-up of all actions defined under the CDP, modern follow-up tools (software,

documentation) will be developed by ECOWAS, in conjunction with all actors. The tools will

allow for synthesizing, prioritising, classifying by axes and priority actions, as well as by actors

and actions to be taken. Such a mechanism should make for continued follow-up, through a

mechanism of centralised information and effective implementation of the CDP. All information

and remarks from actors, lodged at all levels of the results chain, will be formalised and

mobilised to feed into, define and operationalise an effective information and communication

system.

The various entities concerned within the ECOWAS region will set up an organisation and

evolve specific procedures for ascertaining the implementation of measures in the activity under

their purview.

5.4.2 Evaluation

Since, in essence, the goal of the CDP is to contribute to making operational the concept of

“ECOWAS of peoples”, it is important that its impact be clearly defined, in order to rectify or

consolidate the orientations of activities for the sustenance of positive effects.

The CDP will be a programme with a 5-year timeline; it will, therefore, undergo three types of

evaluation (continuous review, mid-term review and final review).

Continuous review

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To facilitate review at specified periods (bi-annual or annual) by entities involved in the CDP, it

is necessary to carry out regular synthesis of elements outlining activities in the form defined by

the follow-up system, as, for example, performance management scorecards.

Data collection from the various entities must be aggregated to facilitate information sharing

with steering bodies, through internal publications, such as reports. They will enable competent

authorities to be informed of concrete actions taken under the CDP, ensure their interpretation

and regularly propose reorientations, on the basis of impacts actually observed and expected

outcomes.

Mid-term review

It may be done at the mid-term, and must help define the expectations in terms progress after

three years (3) of implementation. It should allow for evaluation of the level of achievements, to

ascertain the occurrence of events that might give cause for reorientations, slowdown or

acceleration of CDP actions.

This mid-term review must serve as support for a review of the conceptual, economic,

geographical and political bases of the second phase of the CDP (CDP II).

The mid-term review will be carried out by an external body outside of the actors involved in

implementation, so that the outcome would be easily acceptable to all stakeholders. The results

of the mid-term review will be communicated appropriately to enhance acceptance of changes

that might be suggested.

Final evaluation

The final evaluation of the CDP will be conducted after five years. It should enable stock-taking

of final achievements, as against expected outcomes. It must be conducted also by a neutral body

that is well versed in evaluation issues. It will help draw technical (conduct of activities),

institutional, methodological, and operational lessons, in order to prepare CDP II.

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5.5 Financing strategy

The main objective of the CDP financing strategy is to undertake a resource mobilisation strategy, which should allow the region, member States, IGOs and ECOWAS to create a favourable situation for pooling financial resources to fill the gaps in funding programmes and projects under the CDP in collaboration with technical and financial partners.

In the light of this, the Conference on development financing of March 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico, adopted the “Consensus of Monterrey”, which places emphasis on the effort to be made by poor countries, particularly in mobilising national resources to finance their development strategies. It also specifies that resources must continue to be mobilised through cooperation and international partnership, both bilaterally and through international financial institutions.

Besides, in relation to the recent economic and financial crisis, and the refusal of most developed countries to adhere to the objective of allocating at least 0.7% of their GDP to official development assistance, priority must also be given to implementing innovative financing mechanisms. To this end, it is appropriate to increasingly resort to specific levies, already in place in some countries in the ECOWAS region28 and to envision new taxation mechanisms on financial transactions29, natural resources and mobile telephony, for instance.

It is this two-component national and external approach which underlies the strategy of resource mobilisation of the CDP. To this end, financing sources, the strategy to be applied, as well as risks will be reviewed.

5.5.1 Sources of financing

National or regional resources

The levers available at regional level are mainly the regional financial institutions, EBID and BOAD, and the self-financing of other IGOs of the region, with a major role reserved for ECOWAS.

EBID and BOAD

Financing of the region by financial institutions: Since EBID is the specialised financial outfit of

ECOWAS, it will play a leading role in mobilising resources for the implementation of the CDP.

                                                            28 The mechanism of taxing air tickets to finance airport infrastructure is already being implemented in Senegal and

Togo 29 The European Commission adopted in October 2012 a proposal to enable ten European countries institute a tax on

financial transactions (TFT), which could yield about 10 billion Euros

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Thus, it will be able to call for capital on financial markets, and be supported in its initiatives by

BOAD. The two institutions will also be brought on board in their respective areas of

intervention, for direct financing of the CDP.

Table 19: Type of Financing by Financial Institution Principal intervention areas EBID Infrastructure

Rural development Industry Social Services

BOAD Industry and Agro Industry Rural development Basic and modern Infrastructure (Roads, Telecommunications, Airports, Ports, Energy) Transport, Hotel and other Services

Source: ECOWAS Commission/ Department of Macroeconomic Policies/CDP Unit, 2012

Self-financing by IGOs

ECOWAS Commission

The ECOWAS Commission will continue to be involved in financing in respect of identified

priority programmes through country contributions and community levies.

‐ With respect to country contribution, it will be an innovative financing system to be

developed, with a view to encouraging countries to finance development programmes with a

regional focus (PIP).

‐ Community development levy. This has to do with finding a mechanism for allocating or

distributing community levy to identified programme areas, depending on their relevance and

resources available. The Commission may also decide to allocate a percentage (to be

determined) of proceeds from community levies to finance programmes. These resources

may be lodged in a Trust Fund with EBID to ensure its coordination and management.

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Member States

- National budgets: These are budgetary resources of member States, namely capital

expenditure committed to financing development projects.

- Other specific levies to be put in place for financing priority development programmes and

projects: tax on air tickets or on air transport services to finance airport infrastructure, tax on

mobile telecommunications and tax on mineral resources.

Regional private sector

- Regional private sector: The type of financing envisaged here will either be direct or through

private/public partnership.

National and regional financial markets: This will consist of conducting a public issue for

mobilisation of savings at the regional level.

External resources

The CDP will be financed also with external resources from development partners.

Target Donors and Partners for financing the CDP

On the basis of review of intervention axes of principal partners of the region, over the recent

period of 2000 – 2011, and in a bid to target potential donors of the CDP, Table 21 in Annex

presents the list of potential donors and partners, based on the four (4) priority areas of the CDP.

5.5.2 Resource mobilisation strategy

Mobilising funds for CDP is motivated by the implementation approach, for the past five (5)

years, by the ECOWAS External Relations Directorate, and also by recent initiatives in this

domain, both at member State level, with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, and at regional

level, with the UEMOA PER I and PER II.

Thus, steps to be taken will be in the following phases:

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Identification of donors

The first step in resource mobilisation is to identify the various sources of financing and potential

donors by reconciling priorities and intervention areas of donors, axes and priority areas of the

CDP programme.

Under the CDP, the aforementioned sources are:

Internally: Regional financial institutions (EBID, BOAD and Central Banks) special Funds;

Regional Integration Organisations (ECOWAS, UEMOA and other IGOs), member States,

regional private sector …

Externally: This will mainly consist of technical and financial partners of the region. Once

donors are identified, it will be necessary to draw up technical information sheets for each donor,

specifying the following: i) complete identification of donor, ii) priorities and areas of

intervention, and iii) eligibility criteria of projects and of donor intervention.

Innovative mechanisms: Specific taxes on air tickets, telecommunications, financial operations,

natural resources.

Coordinated mobilisation of stakeholders for sourcing funds

This relates to putting in place internal and intra-regional dynamics for canvassing donors by,

particularly, developing a synergy of action of the Commission, through the CDP Unit and the

External Relations Directorate, the EBID and BOAD.

These departments and institutions will interact within the relevant bodies of the institutional

mechanism of the CDP, to be considered in the framework of resource mobilisation:

An internal sub-committee ‘Mobilisation of resources for the CDP’: An Internal

Technical Committee will be established within ECOWAS; this sub-committee, made up of

the CDP Coordination Unit, the External Relations Directorate and the Finance Directorate,

draws up, validates and does follow-up of the strategy within the Commission.

Regional Committee for resource mobilisation: This Committee is made up of the internal

Technical Sub-Committee ‘Resource Mobilisation’, of EBID, BOAD and UEMOA.

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Regional Advisory Steering Committee: This Committee is made up of member States, of

ECOWAS, UEMOA, other IGOs and non-State Actors: It has the responsibility of giving the

major strategic and operational guidelines, and it constitutes the last stage of validation of the

work of the internal technical Sub-Committee on resource mobilisation and the regional

resource mobilisation Committee, before the decision-making bodies of ECOWAS.

Mission of information exchangies and consultations with donors.

Once the CDP document is finalised, and project technical sheets are developed, it is important

to undertake missions of discussions and consultations with donors, starting, first of all, with

their local representatives, then in a more targeted way, with headquarters of financial

institutions.

These consultations and exchanges could be held during formal periods of discussions between

ECOWAS and its technical and financial partners.

Donor Round Table.

This is the main phase of the fund mobilisation strategy, with the regrouping of all donors, under

the leadership of the Highest Authorities of the region and of ECOWAS, to proceed to announce

financing pledges.

Follow-up of Round Table

In view of the gaps that are often noticed between financing announcements and actual

mobilisation of funds, it is necessary to formalise this phase and to find resources for close

follow-up of post-round table issues, with a view to evaluating concrete commitments and

undertaking corrective measures, where necessary.

5.5.3 Risks

It behoves member States and the Community to create conditions for their economic and social

development. In view of this, adequate financing of the CDP is their full responsibility. It is,

therefore, up to member States and the region, in the light of this, to create the necessary

conditions that would allow for needed financial resources to be mobilised for funding their

development..

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Political and security instability

One of the essential requirements in this regard is to ensure an environment of peace and

security.

Bad governance

Good governance, both with respect to political stability and macroeconomic management, is an

important precondition for attracting external capital and donor resources.

Failure to comply with the principle of subsidiarity

A wide range of stakeholders are involved in the implementation of development projects. Every

project at regional level involves one or several member States at the same time. Thus, it is

necessary to define the respective areas of intervention of the actors so as to optimise project

implementation and make the intervention of partners clearer and more effective.

Similarly, the principle of subsidiarity should also prevail among IGOs of the region, for the

selection of the Main contractor Institution of CDP projects and programmes.

Non alignment between regional and national priorities

It is important to ensure that there is alignment between national and regional priorities, so that

the priorities identified in the region under the CDP are internalised in the reference framework

of national strategic documents and member States’ budgetary intervention instruments.

Non alignment between priorities and schedules of donors and the CDP

Most technical partners decide on priorities and timetables as part of their intervention strategies

in particular for the West African region, Gaps between their areas and period of intervention

may constitute a major risk in their commitment to support the CDP. In the same vein, the

inclusion of new projects, which are not part of the traditional agenda of principal donors, may

create financing problems.

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Drop in financial aid inflows and financing

The global economic situation, characterised in recent times in particular by the relative drop in

activity and the adoption of restrictive budgetary policies in most of the developed countries, is a

threat to the volume of resources to be mobilised for financing in the region.

186 

 

GENERAL CONCLUSION

The regional Community Development Programme document (CDP) is the outcome of a long

multi-stakeholder process. Started in 2010, following consultations with member States, IGOs of

the region and non-State actors of the civil society, private sector and the Research sector, the

CDP adopted a formulation methodology structured around four (4) phases: (i) sensitisation and

capacity building, (ii) inventory of projects and programmes of IGOs and member States, (iii)

prioritisation and impact analysis, and (iv) financing Round table.

Implementation outcomes of the first three phases are the bases of this document. Thus, they

buttressed the analysis of regional integration and development, which brings to the fore marked

progress toward economic and social development, as well as potentials and strengths for the

region. The analysis, however, brings to the fore, persistent challenges in terms of high incidence

of poverty, lack of basic infrastructure and of assistance to production and trade. The region

continues also to experience political and security uncertainties.

Another major observation of the analysis of the regional situation is the multiplicity of actors

and initiatives in the same community. In the light of this presentation, the orientations and

strategies of the CDP highlighted four (4) priority areas: (i) Integration of peoples, governance

and human development; (ii) Deepening economic integration; (iii) Development of

infrastructure and wealth creation, and (iv) Cooperation and financing. Thirteen (13) strategic

objectives and fifty-eight (58) priority actions were identified to support the medium and long-

term development strategy of the CDP by way of their implementation.

The choice of these axes was empirically justified for the use of a medium and long-term

planning and impact measurement tool (T21 model), which was extensively distributed and

appropriated by IGOs and member States.

The CDP document also conducted an innovative approach through a broad-based survey of

thirty-six (36) IGOs, analytical studies of development strategies in all member States, and the

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formulation of action plans outlining major projects for non-State Actors of the civil society and

the research sector.

Results of this inventory reveal 1511 projects on the whole, of which 669 are for member States,

819 for IGOs and Specialised Institutions and 23 for NSAs. On the basis of this inventory, and

given the orientations and strategies selected for the CDP, 516 priority projects of which 100 are

from member States, 403 from Inter-Governmental Organisations and 13 from non-State Actors,

have been selected for implementation in a sequential timeframe of five (5) years in order to

achieve Vision 2020-related objectives.

To this end, the mechanism for this implementation is structured around an organisational and

follow-up/evaluation framework, which involves all stakeholders in the formulation process.

With a flawless analysis, a well-grounded and results-based strategy and an inclusive and

participatory approach which ensures consistency and synergy of interventions, the CDP has

provided itself with decisive advantages to ensure resource mobilisation for its financing and

smooth implementation.

By cross-cutting the priorities of the Commission and forming a unifying and reference

framework for initiatives of the region, the CDP presents a regional integration and development

agenda, which makes Vision 2020 operational for the benefit of the people of the ECOWAS

region.

188 

 

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ANNEXES

Annex 1 :

Table 20: Score of some governance indicators of the ECOWAS countries in comparison with some countries outside the ECOWAS region.

Countries

Percentage of countries below country x

Participation and ownership

Political stability/ absence of violence

Efficiency of governance

Quality of regulatory bodies

Rule of Law

Corruption control

BENIN 55.92 56.13 35.41 41.63 27.96 25.84BURKINA FASO 39.34 40.57 33.01 50.24 48.34 44.02CAPE VERDE 72.51 76.42 53.59 51.20 63.98 74.64COTE D'IVOIRE 15.64 7.08 7.18 19.62 9.48 9.57GAMBIA 16.11 48.58 29.67 38.76 36.02 34.93GHANA 63.03 47.64 55.50 54.07 54.03 60.29GUINEA 22.75 4.72 11.48 13.88 2.84 8.13GUINEA-BISSAU 23.70 23.58 13.40 14.35 5.69 14.35LIBERIA 40.28 29.72 8.13 16.75 17.06 36.36MALI 54.98 34.91 19.14 36.36 40.28 30.14NIGER 29.86 14.62 27.75 34.45 33.18 31.10NIGERIA 27.01 3.77 10.53 22.97 10.90 15.79SENEGAL 36.02 33.02 37.32 43.06 41.71 29.67SIERRA LEONE 41.71 37.26 11.00 24.88 18.01 25.36TOGO 19.91 38.21 5.74 20.10 18.96 17.70TAIWAN, CHINA 73.93 72.64 84.69 83.73 81.52 74.16UNITED STATES 87.20 56.60 89.95 90.43 91.47 85.65BRAZIL 63.51 48.11 56.94 55.98 55.45 59.81SWEDEN 99.05 88.21 98.56 96.65 99.53 99.04

(x% shows that the country’s score is above x% of countries)

Source: World Bank, (www.govindicators.org)

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Annex 2 : Logical framework of the CDP Columns 1 and 2 of the logical framework table define the components of the results chain by

specifying priority actions according to priority areas and axis. Column 3 provides objectively

verifiable indicators which may be amended gradually to further develop policies and dialogue

with stakeholders in each specific area. Column 4 provides verification sources for indicators

which will change with any possible amendment of the indicators. Finally, this column also

outlines risks and assumptions that affect the achievement of results of which the lists and the

descriptions could be amended to take into account new sectoral realities or inadequately

specified realities.

This logical framework should be refined gradually as the CDP document matures. The main

areas to be refined are: (1) specification of actions which at this point are general in character

and should have been developed into specific activities or projects, of which the capacity to

achieve output under which they are recorded must be verified including the rest of the

consistent forms, (2) Amendment of indicators, verification sources and risks and assumptions

through deepening interactions with specialised departments and stakeholders to better integrate

the realities and data availabilities in the sectors.

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Table 21: Logical framework of the Community Development Programme (CDP)

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

Impact

Moving from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of people, borderless, integrated, well-governed region where the citizens live in dignity, rule of law and take full advantage of globalisation.

Indicators of Observatories on abnormal practices

Indicators of Observatories on abnormal practices

‐ Peace and socio-political stability;

‐ Existence of political will in the States;

‐ Normal functioning and stability of institutions;

‐ Implementation of poverty reduction strategies;

‐ Implementation of policies, programmes and national development plans

% of protocols implemented by governments ( disaggregated by type of protocol)

Study reports and specific surveys

Multilateral surveillance reports

Number of convergence criteria complied with by the States

Multilateral surveillance reports

Governance indices World Bank Reports and Website

Poverty indices United Nations Development

ECOWAS’ share in world trade

UNCTAD Reports and statistics

Indices of competitiveness

World Economic Forum Reports, studies and specific survey

Priority area 1 (PA1): Integration of people, governance and human development

Effect 1

The people are integrated, well governed and have a good level of human development

-Indicators of Observatories on abnormal practices

- Literacy rates in both official and local languages

- Reports of Observatories on abnormal practices - The UN Development reports - World Bank reports ‐ World Bank

Reports and

‐ Commitment and determination of the States to promote integration and good governance

‐ Effective participation of stakeholders

197 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

‐ Indices of governance ‐ % measures on

conflict prevention and resolution implemented

‐ Human development indices

Website on governance

‐ Document or protocol defining the regional conflict prevention and resolution mechanism and

‐ ECOWAS activity reports

Axis 1 Axis 1 : People are integrated

‐ ‐

Effect 1.1. The people are integrated

- Indicators of Observatories on abnormal practices

- literacy rate in both official and local languages

- Indicators of Observatories on abnormal practices

- United Nations Development reports

- World Bank reports

‐ Same as the impact

Priority actions

Participation and involvement of non-State actors ( Civil Society Organisations)

‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting information sharing and cultural dialogue ‐ ‐ ‐

Free movement of people ‐ ‐ ‐ Participation and involvement of non-State actors (Private sector)

‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting both local and official languages ‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting means of community information ‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 2 Axis 2 : Enhanced cooperation of States ‐ ‐ ‐

Output 1.2. Good governance, security and peace are ensured

‐ Governance indices ‐ % measures on

conflict prevention and resolution implemented

‐

‐ World Bank Reports and website

‐ Document or protocol defining the regional conflict prevention and resolution mechanism and

‐ ECOWAS activity

‐ Commitment and governments’ will to promote good governance

‐ Effective participation of actors

198 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

reports

Priority actions

Promoting good governance and the Rule of Law ‐ ‐ ‐

Consolidation of Democracy ‐ ‐ ‐ Conflicts Prevention and Resolution ‐ ‐ ‐

Peace keeping and collaboration in terms of security

‐ ‐ ‐

Peacekeeping and collaboration in terms of defence

‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 8 Axis 8 : Human development

Output 1.3. Access to health and education services has improved

‐ Average range of access to a health centre

‐ Consultations rate ‐ Populations’ rate of

satisfaction ‐ Life expectancy ‐ Enrollment rate (GER,

TNS, TBA) ‐ Success rate in school

examinations

‐ Annual health statistics

‐ EDS surveys’ report ‐ Specific surveys’

reports ‐ United Nations’

reports on human development

‐ Effective resources mobilisation among States to promote health and education.

Priority actions

Health and nutrition ‐ ‐ ‐

Youth and employment ‐ ‐ ‐

Social activities (Sports, hobbies, etc.) Gender, etc.

‐ ‐ ‐

Education ‐ ‐ ‐

Priority areas 2 (PA2) : Deepening economic integration

Effect 2 Economic, commercial, financial and monetary integration are achieved

‐ Number of convergence criteria complied with by States;

‐ % of reforms implemented;

‐ % of countries to have implemented the regional reforms;

‐ Existence of a single ECOWAS currency

‐ % of rules of harmonized financial and banking practices

‐ National multilateral surveillance reports CDP monitoring and evaluation reports;

‐ Technical department reports

‐ Reports of ECOWAS Central Banks

‐ Study or specific survey reports

‐ Existence of a political will from Governments

‐ Peace and socio-political stability

199 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

that are

Axis 2 Axis 2 : Growing Cooperation from Governments

‐ ‐ ‐

Outputs 2.1.

The framework, the policies and the economic, customs and statistic practices are more harmonized

‐ Number of convergence criteria complied with by Government Document or protocol defining the regional conflict prevention and resolution mechanism and

‐ ECOWAS activity reports;

‐ % of reforms implemented;

‐ % of countries to have implemented the regional reforms;

‐ % of the harmonized CDP monitoring and evaluation indicators

‐ National multilateral surveillance reports ;

‐ Monitoring reports and evaluation of the CDP;

‐ Technical department reports

‐ Existence of a political will from the Governments

‐ Peace and sociopolitical stability

Priority actions

Anchoring of ECOWAS institutions extended to all development sectors in member States

‐ ‐ ‐

Multilateral Surveillance of macroeconomic policies ‐ ‐ ‐

Cooperation and tax and customs harmonization ‐ ‐ ‐

Harmonisation of business framework (legislations, investment, mining codes etc.)

‐ ‐ ‐

Harmonization of statistics and information systems ‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 2. Axis 7 : Financial and monetary integration ‐ ‐ ‐

Output 2.2. Financial and monetary integration are achieved

‐ Existence of a single ECOWAS currency

‐ % of harmonized banking and financial practices

‐ Reports of the Central Banks within the ECOWAS zone

‐ Study or specific survey reports

‐ Existence of a political will to set up a single currency

Priority Networking of systems and financial services Promoting the banking

‐ ‐ ‐

200 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

actions system Promoting financial services development (Harmonization of rules and financial practices, etc.)

‐ ‐ ‐

Integrating the sub-regional stock exchange ‐ ‐ ‐

Creating a single currency ‐ ‐ ‐

Priority areas 3 (PA3) : infrastructure development and wealth creation

Effect 3

Inter-States’ networks of transportation, communication, water and energy infrastructure are created with substantial growth in agricultural and industry values

‐ % of transportation infrastructure types interconnected by networks operating within the ECOWAS zone

‐ % of people who have access to at least ICT;

‐ Existence of an ECOWAS energy and water network

‐ % of people who have subscribed to or are connected to these networks

‐ Rate of growth in both agriculture production and industry values

‐ % of agriculture farms and enterprises using local research findings in their production process

‐ Area of land covered by forests

‐ Rate of air pollution ‐ Number of

operational mechanisms to adapt to climate changes within the ECOWAS region

‐ ECOWAS activities reports;

‐ Report for Governments activities;

‐ Regional reports for monitoring activities and common policy evaluation

‐ Study reports and specific surveys;

‐ Governments total commitment to implement national policies

‐ Effective mobilization of resources

‐ Effective production of results and innovations adapted to the needs of production players ;

‐ Increase research funding;

‐ boost the investment capacities of players in agriculture

Axis 3 Axis 3 : Common agricultural and industrial policies

Output 3.1. Common agricultural and industrial policies are

‐ Execution rate of action plans for each common policy

- Common policies ‐ Total commitment of States to

201 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

implemented document

- Regional activity reports , monitoring and evaluation of common policies

- Monitoring and evaluation of governments activities reports for each policy

implement national policies

Priority actions

Boosting productivity and agricultural productions ‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting food sovereignty ‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting industrial development ‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting the private sector ‐ ‐ ‐

Harmonizing standards ‐ ‐ ‐

Interconnecting markets, goods and services ‐ ‐ ‐

Trade development ‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 4 Axis 4: Interconnecting transport infrastructure

Output 3.2 The transport infrastructures are interconnected

‐ % of transport infrastructure types interconnected by operational networks within the ECOWAS zone

‐ Specific study reports

‐ Total commitment of States to implement national policies

‐ Effective mobilisation of resources

Priority actions

Connecting the urban centres in the region ‐ ‐ ‐

Developing and interconnecting the road networks

‐ ‐ ‐

Developing and interconnecting the railway networks

‐ ‐ ‐

Developing and interconnecting the marine transportation networks

‐ ‐ ‐

202 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

Developing and interconnecting the air transportation networks

‐ ‐ ‐

Harmonizing roads, railway, air, marine and harbour transportation policies

‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 5 Axis 5 : Interconnection of ICT services

Output 3.3 The majority of the people have access to ICT services ‐ % of people who have

access to at least ICT

‐ ECOWAS activities reports

‐ Governments’ activities reports

‐ Reports on the OMDs

‐ Total commitment of States to implement national policies

‐ Effective commitment of private players to implement national policies

PriorityActions

Interconnections, reliability and fixed network telephony extension

‐ ‐ ‐

Interconnections of optical fibres ‐ ‐ ‐

Interconnection of the mobile telephony ( Built-in SIM card )

‐ ‐ ‐

Extension modern communication tools ‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting regional radios and televisions ‐ ‐ ‐

Regulating the telecommunications sector ‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 6 : Axis 6 : Interconnection of energy and water

Output 3.4 Both energy and water networks are interconnected

‐ Existence of both energy and water networks for the ECOWAS zone

‐ % of people who have subscribed to these networks

‐ Study or specific survey reports

‐ Total commitment of States to implement national policies

‐ Effective resource mobilization

Priority actions

Interconnection of production, transportation, potable water distribution networks

‐ ‐ ‐

Interconnection of production, transportation, electricity and gas

‐ ‐ ‐

203 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

distribution networks

Energy self-sufficiency ‐ ‐ ‐ Sub-regional cooperation in the area of production, and hydrocarbon distribution

‐ ‐ ‐

Regulating the energy sector ‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting renewable energy ‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 9: Axis 9 : research development and innovation

Output 3.5

Research and development and innovation produce results which are used by goods and services production players

‐ % of agriculture farms and companies that use local research findings in their production process

‐ Study or specific survey reports from surveys in business and agriculture

‐ Effective production of findings and innovations to adapt to the needs of production players;

‐ Increase funds allocated for research;

‐ Boost investment capacities of production players

Priority actions

Researchers and research centres and institutes networking

‐ ‐ ‐

Extension of research findings ‐ ‐ ‐

Universities, Business Schools and Tertiary Institutions networking

‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting research for the development of West Africa ‐ ‐ ‐

Setting up a communication and equivalence of qualifications system

‐ ‐ ‐

Promoting innovation, science and technology ‐ ‐ ‐

Axis 10:

Axis 10 : common environmental policies and of natural resources management

Output 3.6 Natural resources, the environment and climatic

‐ Area of land occupied by forests

‐ Rate of air pollution

‐ United Nations reports on environment

‐ Effective commitment of States to

204 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

change are well managed ‐ Number of operational mechanisms to adapt to climatic changes within ECOWAS zone

‐ Activities reports from the governments

implement national policies

‐ Effective resource’ mobilisation

Priority actions

Integrated management of natural resources and the environment

‐ ‐ ‐

Regional capacity building to adapt to climate change ‐ ‐ ‐

Priority area 4 (PA4) : Cooperation and funding

Effect 4 Ensure cooperation and financing to implement the CDP

‐ % of resource requirements which are actually used

‐ Activities reports of the ECOWAS CDP team

‐ activities reports from the governments

‐ Existence of a budgetary line and / or financing opportunities of CDP policies at the Technical and Financial Partners level (TFPs);

‐ The will of the TFPs to finance the CDP;

‐ Effective cooperation from the governments to mobilise resources;

‐ Quality of strategies and approaches to mobilise resources

Output 4.1 Partnership protocols required to implement the CDP are signed

‐ Number of protocols, conventions or partnership agreements

‐ Share of partnerships signed required to finance the CDP

‐ Documents of Protocols, conventions or financing agreement

‐ Reports of activities of the ECOWAS CDP team

‐ Activity reports of States

‐ Same as for the effect

Priority actions

Cooperation (South-South, North- North, triangular, etc.)

‐ ‐ ‐

Partnership (Private-Public partnerships, joint venture, etc.)

‐ ‐ ‐

Outputs 4.2 Internal resources required to implement the CDP are

‐ Share of internal resources required to

‐ Protocols or agreements for

‐ Same as for the effect

205 

 

Definition Description of axes, results and priority actions

Performance indicators Verification Sources Risks and

assumptions

mobilised finance the CDP ‐ External resource

mobilisation rate

financing activities ‐ Activity reports of

ECOWAS CDP ‐ Activity reports of

States

Priority actions Internal resource mobilisation (private sector and regional financial institutions)

‐ ‐ ‐

Output 4.3 External resources required to implement the CDP are mobilized

‐ Share of external resources required to finance the CDP are mobilized

‐ External resource mobilisation rate

‐ Protocols or financing agreement

‐ Activities reports of the ECOWAS CDP team

‐ Activities report from the governments

‐ Same as for the effect

Priority actions External resource mobilization (financial technical partnership)

‐ ‐ ‐

Output 4.4 Monitoring and evaluation of the of the CDP are done

‐ % of activities of M&E executed by M&E arrangements

‐ % of documented indicators

‐ M&E reports of the CDP

‐ Effective cooperation of States in statistical information dissemination and production process

‐ Existence of sufficient resources to produce and disseminate statistics

Priority actions Monitoring and Evaluation ‐ ‐ ‐

Source: ECOWAS Commission / Department of Macroeconomic Policies / CDP Unit, 2012

206 

 

Table 22: List of donors and potential partners in accordance with the four (4) priority areas of the CDP  

Priority areas Strategic Axes Priority Action Potential financial Partners

Priority area 1 (PA1): Integration of people, governance and human development

Axis 1: Integration of people

•Participating and involving non-State actors •Promoting local and official languages •Promoting information sharing and intercultural dialogue •Free movement of people Decentralisation and local governance •Promoting means of community information Developing trade

GIZ, DANIDA, KFW, DED, Swiss, JICA, AFD, UNDP, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, AIXA Foundation, Volkswagen Foundation, EBID

Axis 2 :Enhanced cooperation of States

•Promoting good governance and the rule of law •Consolidating Democracy •Conflict prevention and resolution • Maintenance of peace and collaboration in matters of defense and security Trade development Regional integration

EU, DANIDA, Belgium, JICA, Kuwait, ADB, FAD, Nigeria Special Funds, UNDP, Melinda and Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, AIXA Foundation, BIDC

Axis 8 : Human Development

•Education •Health and nutrition •Youth and employment • Social activities (Sports, leisure, etc.) •Gender, etc.

EU, GIZ, DANIDA, KFW, DED, CIDA, Netherland, Belgium, Swiss, JICA, World Bank, ADB, FAD, Nigerian Special Funds, BID, BADEA, FODI, UNDP, ADFD, Melinda and Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, David and Lucie Packard Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, AIXA Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo, CARIPLO Foundation, EBID

Priority area 2 (PA2) : Deepening economic integration

Axis 2 : Enhanced cooperation of States

•ECOWAS institutional anchoring extended to all development sectors of member-States •Multilateral surveillance of macroeconomic policies •Harmonizing the business framework (legislation, codes) •Cooperation , tax and customs harmonisation •Harmonising statistics and information systems Trade development

EU, JICA, EBID

207 

 

Axis 7 : Monetary and financial integration

•Promoting the development of financial services (harmonising rules and financial practices, networking of communication systems and financial services, promoting the banking system, etc.) • Integrating sub-regional stock exchange •Creating a single currency

Netherland, , Swiss, JICA, World Bank, SFI, GMAO, BADEA, FODI, Melinda and Gates Foundation, EBID

Priority area 3 (PA3) : infrastructure development and wealth creation

Axis 3 : Common agricultural and industrial policies

• Boosting productivity and agricultural production •Promoting food sovereignty •Promoting industrial development and harmonizing standards •Inter-connecting goods and services •Promoting the private sector • Trade development

EU, DANIDA, DED, CIDA, Netherlands, Belgium, JICA, World Bank, IBRD, SFI, ADB, FAD, Nigeria Special Funds, BOAD, GARI, BID, BADEA, FODI, UNDP, FIDA. WFP, KAFAED, ADFD, Melinda and Gates Foundation, IFPRI, EBID

Axis 4 : Inter-connecting transport infrastructure

•Connecting all urban centres in the region •Developing and inter-connecting the road network •Developing and interconnecting the railway network •Developing and interconnecting marine transportation networks •Developing and interconnecting air transportation networks •Harmonizing roads, railway, air, maritime and harbour transportation policies

KFW, Belgium, JICA, Kuwait, World Bank, SFI, ADB, BOAD, GARI, BADEA, FODI, UNDP, KAFAED, EBID.

Axis 5 : Interconnecting ICTs

•Interconnecting, ensuring reliability and extension of fixed telephony •Interconnecting the mobile telephony system (Built-in SIM card) •Interconnecting fibre optics •Incorporating modern communication tools •Promoting regional Radios and Televisions •Regulating the telecommunication sector

Belgium, World Bank, BOAD, FODI, KAFAED, ADFD, EBID

208 

 

Priority area 3 (PA3) : Infrastructure development and wealth creation

Axis 6 : Interconnecting energy and water systems

• Energy self-sufficiency •Interconnecting production, transportation, electricity and gas distribution networks •Interconnecting production, transportation and drinking water distribution networks • Sub-regional cooperation in production and distribution of oil and gas •Promoting renewable energy •Regulating the energy sector

EU, GIZ, DANIDA, KFW, CIDA, JICA, Kuwait, IBRD, BOAD, BID, BADEA, UNDP, KAFAED, ADFD, EBID

Axis 9 :Research –Development and Innovation

• Networking of researchers and Research Centres, Universities, Business Schools and Tertiary institutions •Promoting research for the development of West Africa • Sharing research findings • Setting up a system of correspondence and equivalence of qualifications •Promoting innovation, science and technology

JICA, ADFD, David and Lucie Packard Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, AIXA Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo , Volkswagen Foundation, CARIPLO Foundation, BIDC

Axis 10 : Common policies on the environment and natural resources

•Integrated management of natural resources and the environment •Building capacity in the region to adapt to climate change

EU, GIZ, DANIDA, KFW, Netherland, Belgium, JICA, World Bank, SFI, ADB, FAD, Nigeria Special Funds, BOAD, BID, FODI, UNDP, FIDA, KAFAED, Melinda and Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, David and Lucie Packard Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, AIXA Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo, Volkswagen Foundation, CARIPLO Foundation, EBID

Priority area 4 (PA 4): Cooperation and financing

Cross-cutting Axis

•Cooperation (South- South, North -South, triangular, etc.) •Partnership (partnerships between private and public sectors, joint ventures, etc.) •Mobilising internal resources ( regional financial institutions and private sector) •Mobilising external resources ( financial and technical partners) • Monitoring and evaluation

DFIF, EU, GIZ, AFD, CIDA, USAID, DANIDA, KFW, DED, CIDA, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, JICA, China, Kuwait, World Bank, IBRD, IDA, SFI, ADB, FAD, Nigeria Special Funds, BOAD, EBID, GARI, GMAO, BID, BADEA, FODI, PNUD, FIDA, EBID

Source: ECOWAS Commission / Department of Macroeconomic Policies/ PCD Unit, 2012

209