The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), and European Union (EU) delegations in Abuja, Ouagadougou and Brussels, respectively have held their third tripartite meeting.
The two West African regional bodies and the European continental grouping met to programme and implement the Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) 2021-2027 for West Africa.
The tripartite coordination mechanism was organised to consolidate the consultation and cooperation framework as well as better implement the EU’s NDICI at the ECOWAS and UEMOA levels.
It is also to take stock of the implementation of the NDICI, three years after its launch and to agree on recommendations to improve the implementation and effective monitoring of the actions of the instruments in West Africa.
Mr. Jérôme Boa, Director of External Relations of the ECOWAS Commission, stated that the meeting would provide an opportunity to review the actions already undertaken under the 2021, 2022, and 2023 annual plans and the Multiannual Indicative Program (MIP), which amounted to 11. 6 billion euros for the period 2021-2027.
He said it would also ensure that West Africa’s priorities were taken into account, without neglecting recent developments in the region.
Mr Boa noted that there was a need for regular consultation and pre-dialogue between ECOWAS and UEMOA with a view to promote complementarity to ensure a more structured and predicted discussion with the European Union.
According to him, currently six concept notes have been submitted to the EU and 18 regional commitments have been made under AAP 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 targeting priority programmes for West Africa and beyond.
“Out of the 18 commitments, 7 commitments have been signed valued at 575.5 million Euros equivalent to 47 per cent of the total value of the SSA-MIP,” he added.
He reiterated the importance of bilateral consultation by identifying gaps, clarifying issues and developing common positions for the scheduled ECOWAS-UEMOA-EU tripartite meeting.
Mr Jonas Claes, chargé d’affaires at the EU Delegation in Ghana, expressed gratitude to ECOWAS and UEMOA for their commitment to supporting the programming and the implementation process of the 2021-2027 Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for Africa.
He indicated that the meeting would identify bottlenecks in the ongoing process and make recommendations aimed at positively impacting the region’s citizens, the main beneficiaries of the programs.
Mr Arnaud Cédric Kiema, Director of Cooperation of the UEMOA Commission, said maintaining the framework for dialogue between the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions and the EU would enable the three organisations to present their common vision for the successful implementation of NDICI for the benefit of the people of West Africa.
