Mr. Singhatey,  who is also the Chair of  the Community Levy Committee,  took advantage of visit to Bissau to pay a courtesy call on the President of the Republic, José Mario Vaz, the Speaker of the National Parliament, Cipriano Cassamá,  the Prime Minister, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and other top government officials.

The main objective of the visit was to discuss with the country’s authorities the community levy, which is one of the major mechanisms used by ECOWAS to fund its activities.  With the Senior Minister for Economy and Finance, João Alage Mamadu Fadia, the Vice President’s delegation arrived a solution for the payment of the Community Levy arrears by Guinea Bissau.  

The ECOWAS Commission and Guinea Bissau adopted a roadmap for the payment of the arrears covering the period from 2003 to 2016. According to the MoU, the amount owed by Guinea-Bissau will be paid over the next three years in tranches of 20 per cent for 2017, 20 per cent in 2018 and finally 60  per cent in 2019, representing a lump sum of  FCFA  4 359 972 441.

It is recalled that at the 77^th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers held on 15 and 16 December 2016, and the 50^th Summit of Heads of State and Government held on 17 December also in Abuja, the authorities of Guinea Bissau agreed to take into account the recommendations of both statutory meetings on the Community Levy arrears.

After the visit to Guinea Bissau, the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Edward Singhatey, along with his delegation will travel to other countries within the region with the same objective to sensitize Member States on their commitment and ensure that they adhere to and honour the Community Levy mechanism.