“The Accidental Ecowas & AU Citizen”:
Never a Dull Moment
in West Africa(3)…especially with a Mali War!
By E.K.Bensah Jr
I spent the better part of the long
weekend browsing through social and traditional media for any updates on Mali.
There’s an obsession to keep one’s eye on the ball, especially given how
rapidly things change here in the sub-region. In one moment, we are at peace;
in one foul sweep, there’s a coup in a member state. Need I mention
Guinea-Bissau or the designs that the French and Portuguese have for the
sub-region?
The French
Connection
Those following the sub-region will
know enough to know that this region is populated by the collective ECOWAS of
15 member countries. Out of these fifteen, there are eight member states that
have chosen to stretch their resources by becoming members of UEMOA since 1994.
Forget the fact that they were afraid of Nigerian designs for ECOWAS, it is
interesting that they would think creating a parallel sub-regional structure
for the largely-francophone ECOWAS would be an easier way of avoiding the
hegemonic aspirations of the Anglophone Nigeria! If that does not reflect the
French and their penchant for being circuitous, I do not know what is!
The
Portuguese Connection
Some may not know that ECOWAS has
three working languages—English; French and Portguese. The latter is an
important language as Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau as two ECOWAS member states
speak them. But there is an interesting point about the Portuguese that must be
mentioned: Guinea-Bissau is also a member of UEMOA. Tomes can be written about
how the apparently-more-organised UEMOA could accept a troubled and beleaguered
country to the francophone club, especially when that country is even
lusophone. Why not the more-successful Cape Verde, which has been touted as an
ECOWAS success? One can never understand the French—neither can one understand
reports that claim the French are willing and ready to use drones.
Still on Cape Verde, monitoring the
news was a source of bemusement.
Here is little Cape Verde calling
for UN intervention in its fellow lusophone country of Guinea-Bissau, when
ECOWAS troops have been in that country since May 30, 2012. Why the call for UN
intervention at a time when Mali went to call on the UN to intervene? Was it
coincidental that the Portuguese President of the European Commission was
visiting Cape Verde at the time? Did the aid that the EU gave Cape Verde amount
to a “thankyou”” package for making the EU’s work in the sub-region easier? Or
could it be that Cape Verde was doing the bidding of the Lisbon-based Community
of Portuguese-Speaking countries (CPLP) that seem to be aggrieved that ECOWAS
has taken the bull by the horns in Guinea-Bissau with the establishment of the
ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB)?
Whatever conclusion one might draw
on the French or Portguese connection in the Mali Question and the sub-region,
one cannot help but wonder what other designs Western countries might have for
the sub-region.
Wrapping up
the communication of ECOWAS/AU
Communication is an ongoing process,
and for a complex and lively region like this one, it is terribly challenging.
This will certainly not be the last time this writer will be writing about it.
Suffice-to-say, it is important to be reminded of two important sources of
information that those interested in Africa and the sub-region might be
interested in.
The first is PANAPRESS.Com. One of
the major positives about this website with Pan-African aspirations is that it
is regularly updated. That makes up for its execrable design that seems to
stuck in a time warp. For those who understand web-design it is so
first-generation web-design (HTML), it is not funny. There is no allowance for
social media at all. Sadly, too, the French news “sur le fil”, or on the wire,
are infrequently updated. As of today, it still dates back to 15 October, when
the Portuguese and English sections of “on the wire” are updated every day!
Given that Panapress.com is based in Dakar—a francophone city—it beggars belief
why we have a situation where the French releases are some weeks old!
The second is APANEWS.net. Also
based in Dakar, it does everything the AU-backed PANAPRESS avoids. First, all
the stories are regularly updated; and secondly, all language sections are
updated accordingly. Finally, they have an active social media outfit. At the
time of writing, 244 people have “liked” their page on Facebook. Articles that
can be read either in French or English are ticked in green. It is
almost-immediately easier to see at a glance which articles can be read in full
or are behind a pay-wall. Unlike PANAPRESS that regularly offers newspaper
digests for free on the wire, however, all the press digests of APANEWS are
behind a pay wall.
Coming up
in West Africa
- The secretary general of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), Amadou Diallo, said on Monday in Abuja that the sub-region needed US$26 billion to fix its power challenges. Diallo told the media at the 7th WAPP General Assembly othe region was putting an interconnectivity system in place to put all ECOWAS member states together through electrical Network. "Now we have Nigeria, Benin Togo, Ghana ,Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania interconnected through the integration region, he said.
- Major players in West Africa’s energy sector are meeting in Accra from Monday, 29th October 2012 to establish a regional framework for the attainment of the three critical targets set by the UN under its Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL) by 2030. The SE4ALL seeks to extract the commitment of Member States to take concrete actions towards ensuring universal access to energy services; doubling the share of renewal energy in the global energy mix and doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
- The ECOWAS Commission is in the process of establishing a Mediation Facilitation Division (MFD) within its Directorate of Political Affairs, as part of its determined effort to strengthen its mediation architecture for the sustenance of peace and security in the region. To this end, the Commission, with the support of the United Nations and other partners, is organizing a three-day needs assessment workshop in Lagos, Nigeria from Tuesday 30th October 2012, for stakeholders to fine-tune the concept, mandate, structure and requirements of the Division.
ENDs
