2016 ANNUAL REPORT

1 \ ECOWAS COMMON EXTERNAL TARIFF (CET): ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS Abuja, November 2016 2016 ANNUAL REPORT 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 2 ECOWAS Commission 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .. 4 ABREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .. 7 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE ECOWAS COMMISSION .. 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .. 13 INTRODUCTION .. 21 CHAPTER I: RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN WEST AFRICA .. 23 GLOBAL ECONOMIC SITUATION .. 23 GROWTH OF THE AFRICAN ECONOMY .. 27 WEST AFRICAN ECONOMIES .. 29 Economic growth .. 29 Inflation .. 30 Budget deficit .. 32 Public Debt .. 33 Public Debt .. 34 REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND REFORMS IN ECOWAS MEMBER STATES .. 36 GLOBAL COMMODITY PRICES .. 41 CHAPTER II: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMUNITY WORK PROGRAMME .. 45 HARMONIZATION OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES AND PRIVATE SECTOR PROMOTION.

2 45 Multilateral Surveillance .. 45 Private Sector Promotion .. 47 Research and Statistics .. 50 Community Development Programme (CDP) .. 52 ECOWAS Sahel Strategy .. 55 Economic Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU) .. 55 TRADE, CUSTOMS, INDUSTRY, MINES, FREE MOVEMENT AND 56 Trade .. 56 Customs .. 60 AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND WATER RESOURCES .. 66 Agricultural Development .. 66 Environment .. 70 INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT .. 72 Transport .. 72 Project Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU) .. 77 Telecommunications .. 79 Energy .. 80 ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA .. 82 ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE .. 84 West African Power Pool (WAPP) .. 86 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT .. 91 Strengthening communications tools .. 91 Humanitarian Actions and Social Affairs .. 92 Youth, Sports Employment and Drug Control .. 93 Gender integration in development programmes.))

3 96 Education, Culture, Science and Technology .. 97 POLITICAL AFFAIRS, PEACE AND REGIONAL SECURITY ..100 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ..105 LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL MATTER ..107 Legal Affairs ..107 Strategic Planning ..107 Monitoring and Evaluation System ..108 External Relations ..109 Relations with other ECOWAS Institutions ..110 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 3 ECOWAS Commission 2016 Human Resources ..111 General Administration ..113 Communication ..114 Finance ..115 CHAPTER III: ECOWAS AT 40: ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS .. 118 CHAPTER IV: ACTIVITIES OF OTHER COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS .. 129 THE ECOWAS PARLIAMENT ..129 WEST AFRICAN HEALTH ORGANISATION (WAHO) ..137 INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING IN WEST AFRICA (GIABA) ..140 ECOWAS BANK FOR INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (EBID) ..143 GENERAL CONCLUSION.

4 149 ANNEXES .. 153 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 4 ECOWAS Commission 2016 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: OVERVIEW OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK IN 2016 (AS PERCENTAGE CHANGE) .. 24 TABLE 2 : CONSUMER PRICES ( ANNUAL AVERAGE INFLATION) AND VALUE OF WORLD 26 TABLE 3 : KEY INDICATORS FOR THE MAIN AFRICAN 27 TABLE 4 : KEY INDICATORS OF THE REGION S ECONOMY .. 29 TABLE 5: REAL GROWTH RATE OF ECOWAS ECONOMIES (IN PERCENTAGE) .. 29 TABLE 6 : ECOWAS INFLATION RATE .. 30 TABLE 7 : INFLATION RATE OF ECOWAS MEMBER STATES (IN PERCENTAGE) .. 30 TABLE 8: PUBLIC DEFICIT IN ECOWAS MEMBER STATES .. 32 TABLE 9: DEBT RATIO OF ECOWAS MEMBER STATES .. 33 TABLE 10: RATIO OF CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE OF ECOWAS MEMBER STATES .. 34 TABLE 11: COMPARISON BETWEEN THE CONCESSIONS OF ECOWAS MEMBER STATES AND ECOWAS CET (HS 2012) .. 125 TABLE 12: ARREARS OF CALLED UP CAPITAL AS AT 30TH SEPTEMEBER 2016 (IN UA).

5 146 TABLE 13 : GROWTH IN THE BANK S BALANCE SHEET 31ST DECEMBER 2015 AND 31ST AUGUST 2016 .. 147 TABLE 14 : INCOME STATEMENT OF EBID BETWEEN 31ST DECEMBER 2015 & 31ST AUGUST 2016 (THOUSAND UA) .. 148 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 GLOBAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE .. 25 FIGURE 2 : GLOBAL ANNUAL AVERAGE INFLATION RATE .. 26 FIGURE 3 : REAL GDP GROWTH OF AFRICAN REGIONS .. 28 FIGURE 4 : COUNTRIES BELOW THE INFLATION THRESHOLD FIGURE 5: COUNTRIES ABOVE THE INFLATION THRESHOLD .. 31 FIGURE 6 : ECOWAS GROWTH-TO-INFLATION RATIO .. 31 FIGURE 7: ECOWAS PUBLIC DEFICIT FIGURE 8: EXPENDITURE/GROWTH FIGURE 9 : INVESTMENT/GROWTH .. 33 FIGURE 10 : DEBT RATIO OF ECOWAS FIGURE 11: GROWTH/DEBT RATIO .. 34 FIGURE 12 : TREND IN ECOWAS CURRENT ACCOUNT FIGURE 13 : GROWTH-TO-CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE RATIO .. 35 FIGURE 14 : PRICE OF CRUDE OIL/COAL/GAS .. 42 FIGURE 15 : PRICE OF COCOA/RUBER/COTTON .. 43 FIGURE 16 : PRICE OF RICE/WHEAT/SUGAR.

6 43 FIGURE 17: PRICE OF IRON ORE/GOLD/URANIUM .. 44 FIGURE 18 : GROWTH OF NET CUMULATIVE COMMITMENTS OF EBID BETWEEN 2004 & AUGUST 2016 (IN MILLION UA) .. 144 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 5 ECOWAS Commission 2016 ABREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States ACBF African Capacity Building Foundation AECID Agency for International Development AfDB African Development Bank AFRISTAT African Statistical Observatory Office (Bamako) AIF Inter-governmental Agency of the Francophonie AML/CFT Anti Money laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing BCEAO Central Bank of West African States BOAD West African Development Bank CAADP Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (of NEPAD) CCC Community Computer Centre CCR Center for Conflict Resolution CCSP Coordinating Committee of ECOWAS Strategic Planning CET Common External Tariff CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CILSS Inter-State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel CORAF West and Central African Council on Agricultural Research CSD United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development CSF Community Strategic Framework CSOs Civil Society Organisations EBID ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States ECOFEST ECOWAS Festival of Arts & Culture ECOMAC ECOWAS Common Statistics Database System for Multilateral Surveillance ECOQUAL ECOWAS Quality Policy ECOSAP ECOWAS Small Arms Control Programme ECOWAP ECOWAS Agricultural Policy ECOWARN ECOWAS-wide Warning and Response Network ECOWIC ECOWAS Investment Code ECOWIP ECOWAS Investment Policy EDF European Development Fund

7 EMPC ECOWAS Monetary cooperation programme EPA Economic Partnership Agreement EPF ECOWAS Peace Fund ERDF ECOWAS Regional Development Fund EU European Union EUROSTAT European Statistical Office (Luxembourg) FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation GIABA Inter-governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in Africa ICT Information and Communications Technology IDRC International Development Research Centre IGOs Inter-governmental Organisations IMF International Monetary Fund IPAS Investment Promotion Agencies IPAWAS Investment Promotion Agencies of West Africa 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 6 ECOWAS Commission 2016 IPPF Infrastructural Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD Facility) ISRT Inter-State road transit (ECOWAS convention) MDGs Millennium Development Goals NEPAD New Partnership for Africa s Development NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NSA Non State Actors OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OMC Observation and Monitoring Centre (ECOWAS facility)

8 OMVG Organisation for Development of the Gambia Basin PPDU Project Preparation and Development Unit PPP Public Private Partnership PRAFAD Regional Programme of Action on the Fight against Desertification PRIA Regional Agricultural Investment Programme PRSPs Poverty reduction strategy papers REC Regional Economic Communities RTIS Regional Trade Information System SAP Systems, Applications and products SIDA Swedish International Development Agency TNCB Trade Negociation Capacity Bulding Project TRAPCA Trade Policy Training Centre for Africa UEMOA West African Economic and Monetary Union UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECA United Nations Commission for Africa UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organisation USAID United States Agency for International Development WABA West African Bankers Association WACSOF West African Civil Society Forum WAHO West African Health Organisation WAMA West African Monetary Agency WAMI West African Monetary Institute WAPP West African Power Pool WHO World Health Organisation 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 7 ECOWAS Commission 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The 2016 REPORT of the ECOWAS Commission was prepared in line with the directives and guidelines of the President of the Commission and under the supervision of M.

9 Mamadou TRAOR , Commissioner of Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research. The REPORT was prepared by a team from the Department of Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research made up of the following officials: Lassan KABOR (Director of Multilateral Surveillance, Team Coordinator), Peter Kofi DADZIE (Principal Programme Officer), Simeon Konan KOFFI (Principal Programme Officer), Gideon GBAPPY (Principal Programme Officer), Iliyasu BOBBO (Principal Programme Officer), Djibril DICKO, Executive Assistant of the Commissioner of Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research and Kouenkoun MILLOGO (Macroeconomist in the Directorate of Multilateral Surveillance). The editorial team would like to take this opportunity to thank all Commissioners and Directors of the Commission as well as heads of other Community Institutions and Agencies for their important contributions to this ANNUAL REPORT .

10 We also wish to acknowledge the support of the ECOWAS Language Unit and the team of translators whose tireless effort enabled the translation of the document. 2016 AN N U A L RE P O R T O F E C O W A S P a g e | 8 ECOWAS Commission 2016 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE ECOWAS COMMISSION The year 2016 witnessed the assumption of office of new Commissioners, Vice President and President of the ECOWAS Commission, as well as inauguration of the Fourth Legislature of the Community Parliament. In the area of integration, significant strides have been made in policy harmonisation and implementation of activities geared towards the free movement of persons and goods in the Community. The official inauguration of the Task Force on the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme in May 2016 in Ouagadougou, is expected to reduce non-tariff barriers that hinder intra-regional trade development alongside improving the current low level of trade.