Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Head of the 250-member ECOWAS Observation Mission for Friday's general elections in Ghana, former Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, has lauded the country's National Peace Council for its contribution to the pre-election agreement signed by all political stakeholders in the country to play by the rule and ensure a peaceful electoral process. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS and Venezuela have signed the Work Plan for the implementation of a 2009 Letter of Intent between them for the elimination of Malaria in West Africa, according to an ECOWAS Commission statement obtained by PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - In a rare diplomatic spat, the regional bloc ECOWAS has openly expressed its disagreement with the UN Secretary General concerning the urgency to deploy an African-led mission to Mali to help the country regain part of its territory seized by Islamists and rebels. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The 69th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers opened Friday in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire to consider issues relating to the smooth running of the organisation and make recommendations to the Heads of State and Government. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has called on member states to support the implementation of regional Policy and Plan of Action for Child Protection and Child Trafficking, as entry points for addressing the challenges related to the protection of the rights of women and children in the region. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS Commission President Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo has congratulated Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma on his election to a second five-year mandate in the 17 November 2012 polls. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The 250-member ECOWAS Election Observation Mission was due in Accra Thursday for Ghana’s 7th December general elections, according to an ECOWAS Commission statement obtained by PANA here. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Sixty-two yougsters from 11 ECOWAS Member States have successfully completed an intensive training in air conditioning and auto-mechanic engineering, organized by the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC) at Burkina Faso’s Reference Centre for Professional Training in Ziniare, some 36-km, east of Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The regional bloc ECOWAS has described Saturday's general elections in Sierra Leone as free, fair and credible, a big boost for the country that was solely responsible for organising the third elections in the country since the end of its brutal civil war in 2002. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS is partnering with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Union (EU) to implement a programme for the improvement of the business environment in the sub-region, according to the ECOWAS Commission President, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Ex-Nigeria and Ghana Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and John Kufuor respectively, have been tapped to lead the ECOWAS Election Observer Mission to Ghana and Sierra Leone. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission is to deepen institutional reforms, under the new management, in order to fast-track regional economic development and integration, Commission President Kadre Ouedraogo has said. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Ministers in charge of infrastructure in ECOWAS member states have recommended the utilisation of part of the proceeds of the Community Levy, a 0.5 per cent levy on imports from outside the region for financing the organisation’s operations, exclusively to fund regional infrastructure projects. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has presented a cheque for US$382,000 to the Nigeria government to assist the victims of the recent flood disaster, which the country's authorities estimated to have claimed 363 lives and affected another 7.7 million, 2.1 million of whom have been displaced from their homes. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union's Peace and Security Council will meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Wednesday to discuss the military blueprint for the African-led international force in Mali, PANA reported Monday, quoting AU sources. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS on Sunday extended the initial six-month mandate of Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - West African leaders on Sunday endorsed the harmonised Concept of Operations for the deployment of the African-led international force in Mali to help the country to reclaim its territory which was seized by separatist and terrorist groups. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Sunday reaffirmed its resolve to continue to employ both negotiation and military intervention to end the political and security crises in Mali. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - West African leaders were due in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja Sunday for an extraordinary summit of the regional bloc ECOWAS that will dwell on the international intervention in northern Mali. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - To address the serious infrastructure deficit in West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has asked member States to leverage established infrastructure financial mechanisms such as the Special Telecommunications fund and the Transport and Energy sector Development and Financing Fund. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) – Malian caretaker president, Dioncounda Traoré, is due in Abuja, Nigeria, Saturday where he will attend the extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West States African States (ECOWAS) on the Malian crisis, PANA learnt from official sources. Full text...

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (PANA) - ECOWAS and Guinea-Bissau have signed two important agreements - a Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) on the implementation of the road map on the defence and security sector reform programme (DSSRP) and the Status of Mission Agreement (SOMA) formalising the deployment of ECOWAS Mission in Bissau (ECOMIB) in May 2012. Full text...

Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - ECOWAS has called on member states and other stakeholders to evolve a comprehensive and concerted Action Plan to advance the development of infrastructure programme and projects in the region. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The deployment of an ECOWAS mission to Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB) since March 2012 was due to be formalised here Wednesday, with the signing of the mission agreement (SOMA) and the Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the roadmap for the defence and security sector reform programme. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS Ministers in charge of infrastructure are to meet in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, 9 Nov. to agree measures for the domestication of the Action Plan on the Programme for the Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA-PAP) projects, the ECOWAS Commission said in a statement made available to PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has launched an "ambitious programme" to promote food self-sufficiency and reduce food import into the region by 40 percent over the next three years, Commission Vice-President Toga Gayewea McIntosh said. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The extraordinary summit of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS on Mali, billed for 10 Nov., will now hold 11 November, PANA has learnt. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is due to hold an extraordinary summit on Mali 10 Nov. in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city that also hosts the ECOWAS Commission headquarters. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has called for total support for its latest initiative to strengthen regional peace and security through the establishment of a Mediation Facilitation Division (MFD) within its Political Affairs Directorate. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Major stakeholders in West Africa’s energy sector were due to meet in Accra, Ghana, Monday to establish a regional framework for the attainment of the three critical targets set by the UN under its Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL) by 2030. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - As part of efforts to strengthen its mediation system to ensure peace and security in West Africa, the ECOWAS Commission is to establish a Mediation Facilitation Division (MFD) within its Directorate of Political Affairs. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - West Africa’s election management bodies have agreed an Action Plan to improve electoral processes to facilitate the conduct of free, fair, transparent and credible elections and deepen democracy in the region. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has underscored the centrality of the independence, professionalism, fairness and integrity of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) to the collective efforts to nurture democratic culture in West Africa. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - A high-level delegation of ECOWAS and Chinese officials will hold talks on Wednesday at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on ways to boost trade, investment and technical cooperation between the two, the Commission announced here Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS and the government of Rivers State in southern Nigeria are pooling resources in support of the regional bloc's campaign to eliminate malaria in West Africa by 2015, through the strengthening of vector control intervention. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - An intensive entrepreneurial training in integrated agriculture at the Songhai Centre, Porto Novo, Benin Republic, for 73 young men and women from 13 ECOWAS member states rounded off Thursday with the issuance of certificates to the participants. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS and the World Bank have agreed to revitalise and deepen their cooperation for accelerated regional development and integration. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS Ministers of Education will gather in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja 6 Oct. to deliberate on three major programmes - Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Educational Management Information System (EMIS) and Education for Peace, an ECOWAS Commission statement made available to PANA here Friday said. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana has launched the publicity campaign for the 7th ECOWAS Trade Fair, which is due to be held in the nation's capital, Accra, 24 Oct to 4 Nov. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh, has called on members of the Community Parliament to intensify support to regional leaders for the consolidation of peace and security in West Africa. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian and ECOWAS leaders have reached an agreement on the deployment of an African military force to help liberate northern Mali, which has been occupied for nearly six months by armed Islamic groups and Tuareg rebels. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's federal government has approved US$6 million for the construction of a building to house the ECOWAS Parliament, according to Nigerian Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is also the Speaker of the regional parliament. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Participants at the just-ended Sensitization Campaign on the Protocols, Conventions and Activities of ECOWAS integration processes have made 23 recommendations on how the foremost regional bloc can achieve more successes. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS has said citizen sensitisation and participation in the design and execution of its programmes are critical to the success of regional integration efforts and consistent with the bloc's vision. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Ministers in charge of security services in ECOWAS member states have urged the relevant authorities to improve the salaries, living and working conditions of internal security forces to enhance their effectiveness in the prevention and combat of crime in the region. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS has urged its member states that are yet to ratify the 2006 Regional Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons to do so to demonstrate their collective determination to rid the region of the primary tools of violence and instability. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ECOWAS member states have been urged to modify their approach to crime control in response to the dynamics of the security threats in the region. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on Friday advised governments in the ECOWAS sub region to consider possible reforms of the regional body in order to improve its role as security instrument. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - Law enforcement agencies and operatives in West Africa should close ranks and upgrade their knowledge and tools in order to counter the sophistication of criminals and the rising wave of organized transnational crimes in the region, Col. Abdoulrahmane Dieng, Head of ECOWAS Regional Security Division, has said. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A Nigerian NGO, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has filed a suit at the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja, in an effort to stop the plan by the Gambian government to execute two Nigerians who are on death row. Full text...