WEST AFRICA AND THE MITIGATION OF EPAs EFFECTS
ECOWAS Council Of Ministers adopted a regional industrial policy and endorsed CCM recommendations on EPA reaffirming the importance of a development-oriented approach to EPA
The 64th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, held in Abuja from 31st May to 2nd June 2010 in Abuja (Nigeria) has adopted the West African Common Industrial Policy (WACIP) and called on the ECOWAS Commission to take all necessary steps to ensure its full and prompt implementation.
WACIP is expected to diversify and broaden the region’s industrial production by supporting the creation of new industrial production capacities and the development of the already existing.
The Council also endorsed the recommendation issued by Ministerial Monitoring Committee (MMC) on the negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in Bamako, Mali, early May 2010.
In Bamako ministers re-launched the perspective of balanced agreements supported by an EU-funded EPA Development Programme (EPADP) to enable the region to cope with the adjustment costs of the agreements and to maximize the benefits.
The EPADP, which consists of five strategic axes, calls for 9.54bn Euros to be provided over an initial period of five years; with two thirds earmarked for trade-related infrastructure, such as rehabilitation of energy, road and telecommunications networks
On the 10th of May, the EU ministers of development outlined their expected support to the EPADP/PAPED which is far from the amount requested by West Africa’s countries. As regards, EU estimated to make available for PAPED-related activities, from all of its financing instruments, 6.5bn Euros over the next five years.
Financial support to EPADP and the modalities for liberalising the West African market under the EPA are among the contentious issues that have slowed down the negotiations that were launched in August 2005.
Another important aspect of CCM report, endorsed by ECOWAS Council of Ministers, was represented by the integration of the region’s private sector into the negotiating process since it will be directly affected by the regional Common External Tariff (CET) that will accompany the agreement.
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