The Vice-President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), H.E Madame Damtien L. TCHINTCHIBIDJA reiterated the commitment of the current management of the ECOWAS Commission to the achievement of its stated 4X4 strategic objectives which are (i) Strengthened regional peace and security, (ii) Deeper regional integration, (iii) Good governance, (iv) and Inclusive and sustainable development.
She made this statement in her welcome address at the opening of the 34th meeting of the ECOWAS Administration and Finance Committee (CAF), on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, in Abuja, Nigeria. The Vice President recalled that these strategic objectives were designed to ensure that the benefits of the efforts of the ECOWAS governing bodies, in line with ECOWAS Vision 2050, respond first and foremost to the needs of citizens, with the overall objective of raising the living standard of in communities and promoting stability and economic development in the region.
H.E. Ambassador Yakubu A. Dadu, Phd, Chairman of the AFC and Head of the ECOWAS National Office of Nigeria, highlighted that since the community levy remains the backbone of ECOWAS revenues, the Committee has the collective responsibility to ensure that the 2024 draft consolidated budget maintains a close to 70/30 ratio of programs to operating costs, taking into account the decline in Community resources and the interests of the citizens of the Community must be paramount in the deliberations.
Amb. Dadu commended the Vice President of the Commission, the Heads of ECOWAS Institutions and all staff for their strenuous efforts in managing the affairs of the community and urged them to strengthen the momentum towards the implementation of policies, projects and programs that would improve organizational effectiveness and inspire judicious management of community resources to achieve the fundamental objectives of ECOWAS regional integration agenda.
Earlier, Prof. Nazifi Abdullahi DARMA, Commissioner for Internal Services of the ECOWAS Commission, took the floor to warmly welcome the participants to the AFC session.
This 34th meeting of the AFC will be devoted to examining the budgets of ECOWAS Institutions and agencies, as well as a series of documents, reports and memoranda both for information and for discussion.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).