ACBF provides a US$1.9 million grant to the ECOWAS Commission

On 6 May 2009, in Abuja, Nigeria, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signed a US$ 1.92 million Grant Agreement that will support human and institutional capacity building efforts in the Commission through the establishment of an Economic Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU). The ACBF delegation comprised the following persons: Edwin N. Forlemu, Executive Secretary a.i.; Dickson Antwi, Program Officer, Operations Department III; and Emmie Wade, Program Officer, Training Operations Department.

EPAU will be located in the Macroeconomic Policy Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission. The four-year grant will help to strengthen the Commission to enable it to foster the achievement of economic and monetary integration, poverty reduction and sustainable development in West Africa, as set out in the ECOWAS Strategic Plan, 2007-2010. The plan will have three main outputs:
1. A borderless region in which the peoples have access to and are able to harness its enormous resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable production and environment;
2. A space in which the people transact business and live in dignity and peace under the rule of law and good governance; and
3. A zone that is an integral part of the African continental space, within the context of a global village where all human beings live with shared values of mutual respect, mutual solidarity and equitable exchange.

The ACBF grant seeks to accomplish four specific objectives: (i) to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Macroeconomic Policy Directorate; (ii) to foster the conduct of policy research, analysis and management for purposes of promoting regional integration in West Africa; (iii) to improve the skills of ECOWAS staff and National Coordinating Committees, particularly in the areas of macroeconomic policy design, analysis and management, and quantitative techniques through training; and (iv) to promote networking among regional bodies, groups and institutions.

The ECOWAS Commissioner for Administration and Finance, Mrs. Ada Okwuosa, who was representing the President of the Commission, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, signed for ECOWAS while Dr. Forlemu, ACBF Executive Secretary a.i., signed for the Foundation. Mrs. Okwosa expressed appreciation for the grant and for various other support provided by ACBF to the Commission. She added that, in addition to EPAU, other assistance so far received from the Foundation included support in the areas of trade negotiation and statistics.

In response, Dr. Forlemu noted that the ECOWAS-EPAU grant is a logical result of the Foundation’s study, “A Survey of the Capacity Needs of Africa’s Regional Economic Communities”, which recognizes the contributions of Regional Economic Communities (RECs). “There could not be a more propitious occasion for the signing of this Grant Agreement. All over the Continent, there is increasing clamor for the effective involvement of regional economic groupings in both national and regional development. Recent global developments such as the current financial crisis have left developing and fragile economies in Africa with no option than to coordinate their efforts by pooling resources in a common quest to withstand exogenous shocks. We at ACBF therefore pledge to continue to support the efforts of ECOWAS to play a leading role in regional integration in West Africa.”, he stated.

Highlighting the role of EPAU, Dr Forlemu concluded: “Let EPAU shine its new light on policy analysis at the ECOWAS Commission. Let evidence-based analysis enlighten the wisdom of our policymakers in the sub-region. Let the new ideas that will emanate from EPAU guide the trajectory of policy analysis in ECOWAS and beyond. Let EPAU help to empower the work of the ECOWAS Commission in its ambitious quest to strengthen policy convergence, economic harmonization and regional integration in West Africa.”

Thus far, ACBF has awarded US$4 million in grants to the ECOWAS Commission.

REMARKS BY DR. EDWIN N. FORLEMU, ACTING EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF ACBF
SIGNING OF ECOWAS-EPAU GRANT AGREEMENT
ABUJA, NIGERIA, 6 MAY 2009