West African MPs Support Morocco’s ECOWAS Membership – Survey

A survey shows that 75% of West Africa’s MPs support Morocco’s membership in the Economic Community of West African States.

The survey conducted by French institutes, Opinions et Région and IPSE, shows that the majority of MPs considered Morocco’s membership as a factor that will strengthen the ECOWAs while the remaining 25% considered the move as a matter that requires careful thought.

63% interviewees backed Mauritania’s return to the regional grouping.

Only 32% of MPs taking part in the survey supported Algeria’s potential ECOWAS membership while 73% of them backed Tunisia.

Morocco’s membership request was accepted “in principle” by ECOWAS heads of state at a June 4, 2017 summit in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

The admission of Morocco to the ECOWAS sub-region will make it the second largest economy after Nigeria.

With the inclusion of Morocco, the ECOWAS will bolster its aggregated GDP to the 16th rank globally ahead of Turkey and right after Indonesia.