The outgoing World Bank Country Representative to Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly has paid glowing tributes to ECOWAS for the sustenance of the integration momentum as well as the collaborative initiatives between it and the global finance
institution.
The country representative who met with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo in Abuja expressed delight at the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) initiative as well as the progress being made on the economic partnership agreement with the European Union (EU).
She said that the purpose of her visit was to bid the ECOWAS president farewell as her mission in Nigeria comes to an end. The World Bank and ECOWAS, she said, have developed a very strong relationship and partnership that is supported by a matrix of action on important areas where they have decided to work together, such as trade and integration.
Speaking further on the benefits of the ECOWAS-World Bank cooperation, Marie-Nelly noted that her bank and ECOWAS are very much engaged in developing agriculture stressing that she is pleased with the outcome reached so far as there is an understanding that the World Bank will be engaged actively in Member states and at the regional level.
Identifying agriculture as an important area of cooperation, she said fertilizer and seedlings development are areas where some level of achievements have been recorded that can facilitate trade within the region. The West African Power Pool is expected to lend support in this regard.
Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire are the most recent examples where this cooperation is already bearing fruits. The belief according to the World Bank Chief is that, with the network is in place, both sides are looking at working to ensure that the Power companies are strong and capable of supporting trade.
The Country Representative who revealed that a total of $2.5 billion grants have been released to countries in the subregion by the Bank with a large part of it channeled to support infrastructure projects such as the Abidjan-Lagos corridor.
The World Bank and ECOWAS have also been working closely on Ebola control while providing support in new areas such as education and the raising of Centres of Excellence at the regional level. So far, about ten countries are participating in the programme that is expected to really help create the capacity that will bring integration efforts in West Africa to the next level.