The Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded on May 28, 1975 when 15 West African countries signed the Treaty of Lagos. Its mission is to promote economic integration.
It was founded to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for the member states by means of economic and monetary union creating a single large trading bloc. The very slow progress towards this aim meant that the treaty was revised towards a looser collaboration.
The ECOWAS Secretariat and the Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development are its two main institutions to implement policies.
Executive Secretary, 1997 to date (2001): Lansana Kouyate
As part of attempts to diversify energy sources, ECOWAS drew up a regional programme for the utilisation of renewable energy sources in response particularly to the energy needs of the under-privileged rural areas which are remote from the national electricity grid.
ECOWAS and CILSS are to seek the support of development partners such as UNEP, the GEF and UNSO.
The second meeting of ECOWAS Inter-Ministerial Drug Control Committees (IDCC) held in Banjul from 7 to 11 September, 1998 appraised the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action and adopted the statutes of the ECODRUG FUND, the regional fund set up for drug control activities in West Africa.
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