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ECOWAS Secretariat transformed into a Commission
- Heads of States approve new tariff structure.

The Executive Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was transformed into a Commission on 12th January 2005, following an agreement by Heads of States of its member countries at a one-day summit held in Niamey, Niger. In a statement released following the summit, ECOWAS said: “The Commission, which will enable ECOWAS (to) focus better on the discharge of its core function, will be headed by a President assisted by a Deputy and seven other commissioners.”

The Heads of States approved the implementation of a four-band Common External Tariff (CET) for the region. This will align the ECOWAS tariff structure with those in the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), which already operates the tariff regime.

The summit commended the establishment of an ECOWAS Project Development and Implementation Unit (PDIU), which will accelerate the realization of several regional infrastructure projects crucial for trade facilitation and increasing inter-African trade. The projects include the harmonization of telecommunications services that will lead to a region-wide Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) roaming facility; improving existing inter-state telecommunications links; improving access to electric energy through inter-connections of electric grids; and collaboration with the private sector to promote the establishment of a regional airline.

More details available from www.ecowas.int