Nigeria Content Online

The Economic
Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) has entered into a strong
agreement that will boost economic and political cooperation with the
South American country of Brazil.

ECOWAS leaders,
speaking at the end of a special summit of regional leaders and their
Brazilian counterpart in Sal, Cape Verde, at the weekend, said the two
parties agreed to focus their political initiatives on the promotion of
political dialogue, security collaboration, private sector
partnerships, improving infrastructure, capacity building, and cultural
exchange.

Speaking at the
opening of the maiden ECOWAS-Brazil Summit, ECOWAS chairman and
Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, identified the establishment of
a special fund to support the capital base of the ECOWAS Bank for
Investments and Development as one of the key outcomes of the summit.

“It is expected
that the proposals in the presentations will facilitate collaboration
between Brazil and the relevant institutions of the sub-region,
particularly our financial institutions, with an objective to set up a
special fund to support the capital base of the ECOWAS Bank for
Investments and Development. This will be a welcomed initiative in the
interest of our sub-region,” Mr. Jonathan said.

Mutual benefits

He said the
opportunities that will accrue from this summit and subsequent ones
range from collaboration in the areas of renewable energy,
infrastructural development, to combating organised crime and other
related matters such as illicit trafficking in small arms and light
weapons, and the illicit traffic in drugs.

The eight page
declaration, announced at the end of the summit, includes a desire to
improve capacities to cope with development challenges, as well as to
strengthen the political, social, and economic institutions, and the
process of peace and stability-building.

The meeting also
called for the urgent reform of the international financial system in
order to make it fair, just, and inclusive and enable developing
countries to be represented in the decision-making process of such
institutions.

The summit, a
follow-up to the Africa-South America Summit, held in Abuja in November
2006, agreed to progressively uphold and open free and fair trade and
investment opportunities through the promotion of two-way trade,
investment, and business development for their mutual benefit.

In order to give
expression to their proposed cooperation in the area of transport, the
parties agreed to “deepen … cooperation in the area of air transport
in order to improve regular air transport services between Brazil and
ECOWAS Member States.”

Consequently, they
directed the ECOWAS Commission and the relevant institutions in Brazil
to convene a meeting of their national aviation authorities to discuss
the modalities for such a cooperation, including the expansion of
existing air transport arrangements and the signing of new ones.

Both parties also
committed themselves to cooperate in the promotion of clean and
sustainable energy and to support the activities of the ECOWAS Centre
for Renewable Energy, which is based in Praia, Cape Verde.

The ECOWAS-BRAZIL summit was held a day after the 38th ordinary
session of the ECOWAS heads of state meeting in Sal, Cape Verde, that
was attended by all ECOWAS heads of state, except the two suspended
ones of Guinea and Niger Republic.