Monrovia, 7 September 2018. The regional radio station in Monrovia, Liberia, is expected to cover all Community Member States by 2022. During that period, the production and broadcasting of programmes in English, French and Portuguese will become a reality.

It was recommended that by 2020, the coverage of the radio and broadcasting of programmes in the three ECOWAS official languages should be effective in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde. The projects will continue in 2021 in 5 other countries, and will be completed in 2022 with the remaining 4 countries.

These were the main recommendations of the meeting of experts from the Ministries of Information of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on the Community Radio Station, held on 4 and 5 September 2018 in the Liberian capital.

Other recommendations from participants included funding, management structure, technical equipment and infrastructure, as well as ECOWAS radio broadcasts and programmes.

The recommendations were made to Liberia, other Member States and ECOWAS, and are expected to be tabled before Member States’ Ministers of Information for consideration and approval.

Subsequently, the proposals and recommendations will be submitted to ECOWAS statutory bodies, notably the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), the Council of Ministers, and the Authority of Heads of State and Government, for adoption.

Speaking at the start of the meeting, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Dr Zouli Bonkoungou, stated that the Commission will spare no effort to support the implementation of the recommendations arising from the meeting.

On behalf of the Commission President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, he expressed his gratitude to the Liberian government for its support to the regional radio station. He thanked and commended the participants for their presence and valuable contributions during deliberations, and called for continued support for the regional radio station well beyond the meeting.

For his part, the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, Ambassador Babatunde Ajisomo, assured the participants of the regional organisation’s continued support to the Community Radio Station to ensure coverage of the entire region.

On behalf of the participants, the Director of the Ivorian Television Fréquence 2 (RTI 2), Mrs Gnougo Mariam Coulibaly, thanked the goverment of Liberia for the facilities extended to them to ensure the smooth conduct of deliberations.

Ghana’s Ambassador to Liberia, Ernest-Burke Asare-Asiedu, as well as Honourable Clarence Massaquoi and Stephen Zargo of the ECOWAS Parliament, also attended the meeting.

All 15 ECOWAS Member States were represented at the meeting.

It is recalled that on 23 March 2018, in Monrovia, the former United Nations Mission in Liberia transferred its radio station to ECOWAS, at a ceremony chaired by the Liberian Head of State, George Manneh Weah.