The sub-regional body made the acknowledgment in the 2023 ECOWAS Annual Report on the State of the Community.
The report hails the status of the implementation of community work programmes, highlighting that some notable results have been achieved. The report also hinted progress in the free movement of persons and goods protocol in the sub-region, and in the establishment of the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC).
“So far, (6) Member States namely Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Benin, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone have deployed ENBIC,” it details.
Moreover, on political stability, peace and security, the report also underscores that progress has been made on electoral process, especially in Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
However, on the fight against terrorism, it highlighted poor results, which hints at the need for more pragmatic and proactive actions, as it states: “However limited progress was made on the fight against terrorism in the Sahel and in the political transitions in the three Member States affected by coup d'état, namely Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, as well as on addressing the attempted coup in Niger Republic.”
According to official sources, more than 1,800 terrorist attacks have been recorded in the first half of 2023. As officially asserted, more than half a million people in West Africa are refugees and while more than six million are internally displaced, and terrorism and armed rebellion remain some of the main causes.
