Added: 05/16/2006 |
The Economic Community of Central African StatesEstablished in October 1983 by the members of the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa and the members of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes States, the Economic Community of Central African States began to fully function in 1985, yet was inactive for a few years due to the conflict in the Great Lakes area and financial difficulties. The formal contacts between AEC and ECCAS were established only in October 1999 because of inactivity of the latter.
The commitment to the organization's resurrection was expressed at the Second Extra Ordinary Summit of the Economic Community of Central African States, presided over by Pierre Buyoya of Burundi. Approved by the summit was a budget of $10 million for 1998. The Secretariat was empowered to: convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers for evaluation of the UNECA recommendations; obtains assistance from UNECA for evaluation of the secretariat's operational activities and evaluation of contributions made by member states. The member countries were requested to find peaceful solutions to urgent political problems.
Convened in June 2002 in Malabo, the 10th Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government adopted a protocol on establishment of the Network of Parliamentarians of Central Africa and adopt standing orders of the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa, including the Early Warning Mechanism of Central Africa, Multinational Force of Central Africa and the Defense and Security Commission.
Recent activities of the Economic Community of Central African States include the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa by some of the organization's members. In January 2003 a financial agreement was concluded between the European Union and ECCAS and CEMAC, according to which these two associations merged into one organization, where ECCAS took responsibility for the security and peaces of the sub-region through the security pact COPAX.
The Economic Community of Central African States is headquartered in Libreville, Gabon. Among the working languages of the Community are Portuguese, Spanish and French. The organization membership is composed of the following states: Sao Tome and Principe, Rwanda, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Burundi and Angola.
Established in May 1975, the Economic Community of West African States is a regional group consisting of 16 West African countries. Its goals and objectives are similar to those of ECCAS: to develop monetary and economic integration; to develop the culture of human integration; to maintain stability, security and peace as vital for social and economic development; to achieve collective self-sufficiency for the member states by creating a single trading bloc.
The ECOWAS Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development and the Secretariat are two main institutions of the organization established to implement policies. In 2001 the ECOWAS Fund was transformed into the Bank for Investment and Development.
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