The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) are expected to formalise their friendly ties and cooperation through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

ECOWAS Commission President, Marcel de Souza, and IDB President, Dr. Banda Al-Hajjar, held talks in October 2016 in Washington, United States.

They agreed to set up a team with the aim of finalising the memorandum and monitoring its implementation. The signing of the document will take place in the first two weeks of November 2016 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Marcel de Souza and Banda Al-Hajjar also discussed IDB support for the organisation of the upcoming Roundtable on financing the Community Development Programme (CDP), conduct of feasibility studies on Community projects, as well as establishment of a Regional Centre for Capacity Building of ECOWAS Member States and Institutions in Lomé, Togo.

Regarding the Roundtable scheduled for March 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Marcel de Souza noted that the implementation of selected priority projects had a double objective.

First of all, it would boost intra-regional trade currently at 12%, and secondly, increase energy supply as well as help in the fight against food insecurity and pandemics in West Africa, Mr. de Souza disclosed.

The Islamic Development Bank indicated that it would  support ECOWAS in the implementation of selected projects that would, according to its President Dr. Banda Al-Hajjar,  contribute to job creation and poverty reduction.

Marcel de Souza congratulated Dr. Banda Al-Hajjar on his appointment as Head of the IDB and thanked the Bank for its multifaceted support to ECOWAS Member States. It is worth noting that 12 ECOWAS Member States are members of the IDB.

The ECOWAS Commission President attended the meeting alongside his Permanent Representative in New York, Koné Tanou, the Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, Mamadou Traoré, and the Director of Multilateral Surveillance, Lassané Kaboré.