ECOWAS-China forum opens, targets rapid W’African growth

ECOWAS-Chairman-OuattaraIF the first China-ECOWAS forum which held in September 2008 was a reflection of the evolution of the sub-regional group and China as important participant in the global economy, this year’s economic and trade forum which starts today in Accra, Ghana is meant to spur participants to take advantage of the fresh opportunities while enhancing the overall development of West Africa.

The ECOWAS Commission said yesterday in Abuja that owing to a global economy that is dramatically changing, ECOWAS countries are now poised to play a more prominent role in the international economy through the deepening of economic integration, improving economic governance, and the support of private sector development.

“And since China has today become a major economy in the world and important source of finance capital, aggregating imports and exports in billions of dollars, the “China Effect” has been impacting on ECOWAS economies in several ways,” it added in an explanatory note, seeking among others to dispel insinuations of a raging Chinese invasion of parts of the continent.

It noted further yesterday: “This forum would once again present an avenue for key economic actors from the private and public sectors in China and West Africa to explore opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership in the areas of trade, direct investments as well as infrastructure finance. It would also allow both sides to appreciate better, the objectives of ECOWAS and the diverse ways in which it could help them in realising the enormous potential to be unlocked by China-ECOWAS relations.”

By close of last week,  ECOWAS intensified preparations for the Second Business Forum with China with the inaugural meeting of the Presidents of the Regional Business Associations (RBAs) and a joint meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Private Sector Organizing Committee for the forum.

The two-day meeting, which ended in Accra and was attended by officials from the relevant Ministries, Departments and Private Sector of the host country, enabled ECOWAS officials to review preparations for the forum from the perspectives of the ECOWAS Commission and Ghana’s Government and the private sector.

The leader of the ECOWAS Commission delegation, Mr. Eno Umoessien said the meeting was to enable the two sides evaluate the preparations and the challenges to ensure that the forum achieve its objective of attracting more Chinese investments into the region and leveraging the Asian country’s massive foreign reserves.

Over 1,000 participants from West Africa, including 200 private sector operators and 150 government officials attended the inaugural forum, which was hosted by China in Beijing in September 2008, and focused on stimulating Chinese investments in energy, mining and petrochemicals, construction, textile and light industry, as well as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, financial services, machinery, electronics and telecommunications.

In the aftermath of that first business Forum, several Memoranda of Understanding and agreements for investments worth billions of U.S. dollars have been signed between Chinese companies and the Governments of Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria’s western State of Osun, for various infrastructure development projects such as airports, roads and dams. Discussions are also ongoing for other projects. China has also opened the West African Office of the China-Africa Development Fund in Accra, Ghana since 2011, to coordinate its operations in the region.

The Second ECOWAS-China Business Forum will focus on attracting additional Chinese investments into the power sector and infrastructure development, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agro-food and allied services, mining, as well as information and communications technology (ICT). It will be organised in a three-layered structure with the opening ceremony, presentations and a third session dedicated to business, trade and investment discussions by private sector and government operatives from the two sides.