ECOWAS Economic Integration

The African Development Bank (AfDB) contracted ACET in the fall of 2010 to conduct a number of background studies and to help draft a Regional Assistance Strategy to guide the Bank’s support for economic integration in the ECOWAS region, which comprises 15 countries in West Africa.  The draft strategy was delivered to the AfDB in the fall of 2010 while additional work continued on the background studies through the first half of 2011.  The studies comprised: (1) Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects; (2) Trade and Regional Integration in ECOWAS; (2) Private Sector Development and Regional Integration in ECOWAS; (4) Transport (i.e. Roads and Railways) Corridors in ECOWAS; (5) Energy and Power Infrastructure in ECOWAS; (6) Review of Ports in ECOWAS; (7) Facilitating Regional Integration in ECOWAS through ICT; and (8) Cooperative Management and Development of Trans-Boundary Water Basins to Promote Regional Integration in ECOWAS. Each report addressed the following issues with regard to the relevant topic: (a) Review of the current situation within countries and the linkages and cooperation among countries; (b) Opportunities for, and constraints to, further inter-country linkages and cooperation among ECOWAS countries; and (c) Proposals to help address the identified constraints, and the specific interventions that the AfDB could undertake to assist. The reports were finalized and delivered to the AfDB in August 2011.