1. The forty years that have elapsed since 1960, when most of the ECOWAS countries attained their independence, have been a particularly difficult period for West Africa. The region is entering a new century facing very many difficulties. More than half of the population subsists on less than one dollar a day; and the current economic growth level cannot bring about any significant reduction of poverty.

2. The model of development adopted in the sixties, and which was modified in the eighties under the various structural adjustment programmes, has fallen far short of expectations. Published statistics mostly gave a false picture of the economic situation, masking the fact that the vast majority of the West African population was slowly but inexorably becoming poorer.

3. The recent economic history of the West African region can thus be considered to have been, for the most part, a period of often acute economic crisis. The region must act to reverse this situation. For a long time, the debate around this issue has focused on the choice that must be made between growth and social development ,between stringent management and economic recovery. The Bretton Woods institutions have been the greatest proponents of this theory which has now received short thrift. Yet, if the new pet theory- poverty reduction- were to be taken as being in opposition to growth, and the rigour which that implies, the issues involved would still not be any clearer. The fact is, one must not preclude the other. That is why West African countries must avoid such clear-cut choices and the many attendant pitfalls, failing which they will remain locked in a vicious cycle of under-development - impoverishment - armed conflict, while all efforts to curtail these phenomena will continue to fail.

4. West Africa at the present time has to grapple with the issues of development, and with the attendant problems which are many and varied. However, this new century affords a golden opportunity to end the region’s marginalisation. The last decade was one of rapid political change and the result has been the advent of more responsible governments following multi-party elections. Also, there is now a broader consensus on the need to move away from the defective economic models of yesteryears. There is now talk of development underpinned by economic reforms, improved management of public affairs, human resource development and infrastructural growth. In addition, there is a much clearer awareness of the crucial role that regional integration can play in promoting the economic growth and development of the countries in the region.

5. All these factors combine, at this turn of the century, to place West Africa in a better position than was the case a few years ago, despite the current difficulties. Conflicts and poverty are expected to give way to development and peace; economic growth, democracy and regional integration stand to be consolidated in the new millennium. All this will of course be possible only where there is an unflagging commitment to the pursuit of these cardinal values.

6. A broad consensus has also emerged around a certain number of key principles that should guide the integration process in West Africa over the coming years. Some of these principles have been sharply brought home by the constraints encountered, and by the conditions that are needed for the effective implementation of ECOWAS programmes. Among them are the need for internal political and economic stability, the need for coordination of macroeconomic policies at the regional level, and also the need to improve the operational procedures in the Community institutions. Above all, all Member States must show a political commitment to implementing the Community’s priority programmes.

7. In its years of existence, ECOWAS has undertaken many cooperation and integration programmes in the key sectors of the economy, particularly with regard to trade promotion, trade liberalisation, provision of better road and telecommunications infrastructures, and the development of the agriculture, industry and energy sectors. However, such programmes have had minimal impact because most of the decisions taken by the ECOWAS policy organs are never implemented.

8. These lessons of past experience have not been lost on the Heads of State and Government who are keenly aware of the development challenges before West Africa as it responds to the imperative of globalisation. Thus, at their Lome meeting in December 1999, they reiterated their political will to strengthen ECOWAS, and again pledged to execute Community programmes , these being the catalyst for the growth and development of the West African economies. As a means to this end, they adopted a strategy designed to accelerate integration of ECOWAS through the establishment of a single regional market anchored on free trade, a common external tariff and uniform economic and financial policies.

9. The Heads of State also underscored the need to coordinate the activities of ECOWAS and UEMOA in order to avoid overlapping and a duplication of Community programmes.

10. Going even further, the Heads of State recognised the need for a double- track approach to integration. They agreed that any group of countries may take concrete, pragmatic measures to accelerate integration among themselves. Six countries have thus embarked on an initiative to set up a second monetary zone within the ECOWAS region by 2003. They aim to merge this with the CFA zone in 2004, to form a single ECOWAS monetary zone.

11. At a joint meeting in Bamako in January 2000, ministers from UEMOA and ECOWAS sought to evolve practical means of implementing the decisions taken at the Lome Summit. They expressed support for the various initiatives being taken, and established a plan of action to hasten the pace of regional integration in West Africa, essentially by streamlining the programmes of their two institutions, and through the creation of a second monetary zone by 2003.

12. The ECOWAS Executive Secretariat and the UEMOA Commission have held several working sessions since the beginning of this year to harmonise their programmes, particularly with regard to the common market and macroeconomic policy convergence.

13. At the international level, we need to fully grasp the issues raised during the negotiation of the successor agreement to the Lome Convention. The countries of the European Union have stuck to the idea of signing regional economic partnership agreements with regional economic groupings in developing countries, a clear indication that they no longer wish to trade with or invest in countries with small markets.

14. The Authority of Heads of State and Government , meeting in Lome in December 1999, recognised ECOWAS as the appropriate framework for relations between West Africa and the European Union. It must be pointed out, however, that by the terms of these REPA, ECOWAS must be an established a customs union before it can work in partnership with the European Union.

15. Our efforts to achieve economic and customs union in West Africa must be informed by political and strategic considerations. We must build a politically and economically solid ECOWAS, capable of negotiating with other blocs in the developed countries the bases for a mutually-beneficial form of cooperation that can guarantee West Africa’s access to larger markets. For its part, the region must ensure the right conditions to encourage foreign investment inflows, in the context of a single regional market within which local and international private enterprise can enjoy the benefits of economies of scale. This new arrangement affords West African countries an opportunity to consolidate their concerted effort to bring about economic and political change within a wider regional forum.

16. Clearly, therefore, the time has come to rethink the development strategy in West Africa, by adapting it to the new world economic and geopolitical realities but without losing sight of the specific features of our national economies. This can be achieved through regional integration, which is the best approach to integrating the West African economies into the world economy.

17. However, without a climate of peace, security and stability, these new elements that are so vital for a coherent regional integration strategy will be impossible to assemble. The civil strife, social ills and wars that have affected several countries in the region account, in great part, for our lacklustre economic performance and the slow pace of the regional integration process.

18. Political instability has been a characteristic feature of our region over the past few years even in hitherto stable countries. In Cote d’Ivoire, the organisation of elections, which was to be a democratic process, exacerbated social tensions and provoked confrontations, which left many dead and many more wounded. The current tension along the borders between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is part of the fallout from the civil conflict in the Mano River Union area. When law and order breaks down in one State, the effect spills over into the adjoining states, bringing civil upheaval in its wake.

19. Unbridled personal political ambition, poverty, unemployment, and the underdevelopment evidenced by a low level of education and a political system where certain sections of the population have no say in political and economic decisions that affect them - these are the root causes of social breakdown and conflict. Similarly, civil and political crises often erupt when governments prove incapable of satisfying their citizen’s most pressing needs. ECOWAS countries must break out of the vicious cycle of conflicts, that create poverty, which in turn fuels the potential for conflict. All countries in the region need to ensure peace, stability and security within their borders by establishing a stable environment conducive to good governance.

20. I must here praise the consistent and unflagging efforts of the current ECOWAS Chairman, President Alpha Oumar Konare of the Republic of Mali, and his peers who have continued, undeterred and with an iron resolve, to pursue peace and regional integration in West Africa despite the many difficulties in their path.

21. West Africa faces huge challenges in its quest for regional integration. It is my fervent hope that this current session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government will map out a path that will enable our region to improve the environment of peace, stability and development in West Africa and thus guarantee lasting growth and economic development. We need take no more new decisions or elaborate new texts; what we need now is to apply, with conviction, those decisions that have already been taken.

22. This annual report is an update of my interim report of May 2000 and contains three substantive chapters. Chapter I analyses recent economic developments in West Africa and the region’s future prospects. Chapter II reviews the implementation of the Community work programme, with an emphasis on the harmonisation of ECOWAS and UEMOA integration programmes. Chapter III focuses on the need to take account of the regional dimension in national development efforts. The last part of the report consists of remarks and conclusions.