Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has received several sachets of artemisia-based tea, which the Malagasy authorities praise as a remedy against the new coronavirus. The Covid-Organics will be tested by NAFDAC, the agency in charge of food and drug control in Nigeria, before being made available. Visiting President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, handed over the […]
Tag: ECOWAS
ECOWAS countries join efforts to fight Covid-19 pandemic
The member countries of ECOWAS have adopted a number of measures to jointly fight the COVID-19 pandemic, including devoting at least 15% of their annual budgets to strengthen health care systems, as they did during the Ebola epidemic few years ago. During a video-conference, chaired by President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou, the heads of state […]
ECOWAS worried by Guinea Bissau’s escalating political crisis
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Monday urged Guinea-Bissau’s army to remain neutral in the country’s deepening political struggle. The ECOWAS said it “firmly condemned” the latest developments in the country, which it was “following with great concern”. Those developments include the “successive investiture of two heads of state […]
English-speaking ECOWAS countries reject rebranding of CFA currency
The Finance and Economy Ministers, as well as Governors of central banks of English-speaking West African countries on Thursday criticized a move to rename the CFA franc used by former French colonies, saying the move jarred with plans to introduce a region-wide currency of the same name. In December, The Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara announced […]
ECOWAS: Nigeria Studying Move to Embrace New ECO Currency
Nigeria is studying the currency changes ringing through the West African region and will respond in due course, a statement by a media aide to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning said. “Nigeria has received the news of the change of the UEMOA Currency, the CFA (Communaute Financiere d’Afrique) to Eco supposedly as […]
No roaming charges for ECOWAS citizens beginning January 2020
From January 2020, citizens travelling within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will pay no roaming charges following the implementation of the ECOWAS Roaming Initiative. The initiative is aimed at creating an enabling environment for the international mobile roaming market to ensure affordable access to roaming services for voice, SMS and data. According […]
ECOWAS pledges $1 bln to fight Islamist threat
West African leaders have pledged $1 billion to combat the threat of Islamist militancy in the region, the head of the regional bloc said on Saturday at the end of the extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The extraordinary summit was attended by the […]
Mauritania: President Ghazouani to visit Burkina Faso in maiden international trip
Mauritania’s new President Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani has chosen Burkina Faso for his first international trip since ascending to power last month. The retired general turned President will attend the G5 meeting on security in the Sahel region, convening in the West African country on September 13. Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mali form […]
West Africa to introduce regional visa to boost tourism
In the Nigerian capital of Abuja, heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have confirmed their intent to create a common regional Visa called ECOVISA. The recommendation was contained in the final communiqué of the 55th Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS Member […]
West Africa bloc adopts ‘ECO’ as name for new currency
Heads of State of the 15-member West African Community of African States (ECOWAS) have adopted a flexible currency regime after making considerable progress on plans for a single currency in the region. In a meeting held Saturday in the Nigerian capital Abuja, the bloc said it had made considerable progress on the single currency […]