ECOWAS Wraps-Up Forum On Yamoussoukro Decision

A three-day evaluation workshop on the Yamoussoukro decision for Air transport liberalisation in West Africa by ECOWAS member states yesterday ended at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

It brought together representatives from UEMOA Commission, CEMAC Commission, ECOWAS Commission, Banjul Accord Group Secretariat, representatives of the African Development Bank (ADB), representatives of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and Airline executives.

Malick I. M. Cham, the Director-General of GCAA, who stood in for the Minister of Works, Construction and Industry, commended ECOWAS and CEMAC Commissions for choosing Banjul as their host. He said the meeting was a framework of the Memorandum of Understanding adopted on 14th November 1999 by the Aviation Ministers of 23 African countries for the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision on the liberalisation of Air Transport in West Africa and Central Africa.

 ?The Gambia has already integrated in the national legislation, the provisions of the Yamoussoukro Decision. Consequently, the 23 signatory states are expecting that this evaluation will confirm commitments taken to liberalise Air Transport industry in West Africa,? he stated.  He expressed hope that the evaluation would remove all obstacles and bottlenecks for the full implementation of the decision.
Jules Gogoua, the Programme Officer, said it is important that the ECOWAS Commission is developing transport in West Africa.

?Your presence is perfectly justified but before taking part in other events this is also important in the same period,? he concluded.