ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS) AND SUB-REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA

Abstract

The formation of ECOWAS was seen as the beginning of a new era in the history of economic cooperation in West Africa. Its overall aim was to promote cooperation and integration, with a view to establishing an economic and monetary union as a means of stimulating economic growth and development in West Africa. However, since the emergence of ECOWAS, the organisation has been saddled with a lot of challenges and intra-subregional crises without much economic and overall integration being achieved. This study assessed the extent to which relations among the countries of the West African sub-region could enhance regional integration in West Africa. This work adopted the integration theory as the theoretical framework of analysis. The significant finding of the work revealed that even though there is ECOWAS as a sub-regional body of West Africa, member states do not engage in maximum cooperation and that there are many resources that remain underutilized due to a lack of close relationships, which in turn hindered the full integration of the sub-region. Other findings are that the implementation of ECOWAS protocol on free movement of people and trade is criminally exploited by cross border criminals in the region thereby affecting member States to fully open up their borders to each other. Again, a whole number of strategies have been put in place for the full implementation of the integration process to include but not limited to; the creation of the West African Monetary Union, as well as the West African Youth Union, the West African Women’s Association and others. The work concluded by recommending, among others, that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) central and coordinating body should be backed by legal or legislative instruments and that would be respected by all member countries with the power to sanction recalcitrant members as well as given the recognition through adoption of formal national measure and given appropriate backing to its establishment and the right to operate and access public assets on resources. By this, member states will comply and participate fully in the integration process. Article visualizations: