Economic Community of West African States

• 01 Feb 2024

Source: TH

Why in News?

• Recently, the military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their immediate withdrawal from the West African bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

What is ECOWAS?

• About: ECOWAS is a regional grouping aimed to promote economic integration and shared development of the West African sub-region.
  • It was established in May 1975 by 15 West African countries in Lagos, Nigeria.
• Founding members: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sénégal, and Togo.
• Headquarters: Abuja, Nigeria.
• Major Initiatives: ECOWAS established its free trade area in 1990 and adopted a common external tariff in January 2015.
  • It has also worked to address some security issues by developing a peacekeeping force for conflicts in the region.
    • Troops were initially sent to Liberia in 1990 during its civil war and to Sierra Leone in 1997 following the overthrow of a democratically elected government.
• India-ECOWAS Relation:
  • India has a long-standing relationship with ECOWAS and was given the status of observer to the body in 2004.
    • In 2006, India gave the grouping a line of credit (LoC) worth USD 250 million.
  • ECOWAS has also supported India’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

Note

Recently the French military pullout from the Sahel region has raised concerns about the potential spread of conflicts to Gulf of Guinea states such as Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast

Key Points About Sahel Region:

• Sahel is a semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan.
• It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south.
• It is one of the world's richest, gifted with vast energy and mineral resources such as oil, gold and uranium.
  • However, political instability hinder development progress.
• United Nations (UN) limits the Sahel to ten (10) countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Chad.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question:

Prelims

Q. In recent years Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan caught international attention for which one of the following reasons is common to all of them? (2023)

(a) Discovery of rich deposits of rare earth elements
(b) Establishment of Chinese military bases
(c) Southward expansion of Sahara Desert
(d) Successful coups

Ans: (d)

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Mains:

Q. “Africa was chopped into states artificially created by accident of European competition”. Analyze. (2013)