ECOWAS Ministers Validate Reports on the Ease of Business and Coronavirus Control
Among others, the Ministers deliberated on the harmonisation of measures to
facilitate the opening of trade and transport corridors for equipment, medical
supplies and humanitarian personnel involved in the fight against COVID-19, the
flow of essential goods and associated workers; as well as modalities for the
implementation of the emerging Action.
Setting the tone for the meeting, the
President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E Jean-Claude Kassi Brou maintained that
the occurrence of the COVID 19 pandemic has forced ECOWAS Member States to put
in place drastic barrier measures (physical distancing, quarantine, closure of
schools, shops and places of worship as well as the total or partial ban on
public transport in urban areas).
This situation, he however noted, has had a
negative impact on the economies of ECOWAS Member States and by ricochet, on the
transport sector, trade and intra-community exchanges. The region, President
Brou continued, much like others in the global community, has not been spared by
the spread of COVID-19. He added: “The situation of the pandemic as at 8th of
June 2020 (at 16:020)
is as follows:
41,934 confirmed cases,
829 deaths,
19,181
cured and
21,924 under treatment”.
He lamented that virtually all sectors of the
socio-economic life have been affected with the slowdown of economic activities,
job loss, income and revenue flight, rising costs, etc. President Brou also took
note of the participation of representatives of the West African Economic and
Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission as something reflective of the willingness for
productive synergy with the ECOWAS Commission in order to have a coordinated and
successful implementation of policies, projects and programmes common to the two
organizations, which he maintained, “share the same physical space, also a
common desire to live together and an aspiration for peace and development”.
President Brou enthused that the results of their work, apart from contributing
to reviving the transport, logistics, trade and free movement sectors, will also
play a key role in the economic and social development of countries in the
region.
The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Transport, Logistics, Free
Movement and Trade and Minister of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Mr. Hadi Sirika who represented H E Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, and Champion for coordinating the response to COVID-19 in
the region, made commitments towards ensuring that the guidelines for ease of
trade and services throughout the pandemic period are set out and adhered to.
Apart from the presentation and adoption of the outcome and validation of the
reports of the preceding experts meeting on the matter which held on the 12th of
June 2020, a regional COVID-19 epidemiological situation was presented by the
Director-General, West African Health Organization (WAHO) professor Stanley
Okolo.
The WAHO boss ruminated on all actions taken since the pandemic was
declared an emergency public health concern, painted the current picture with
the latest statistics from causative, spread, containment and projections for
the future. He submitted that there was high need for the utilisation of data,
the strengthening of surveillance infrastructure around the 3,000 points of
entry to West Africa, a robust communication and information sharing, (with
technology aiding communication), as well as an upgrade of risk communication
especially now that ECOWAS Member States are in the community transmission
period. The ministerial Committee is expected to propose recommendations to the
ECOWAS Champion of the fight against COVID- 19, with a view to curbing the
spread of the virus while preparing for a gradual and coordinated opening of the
land, maritime and air borders of the region.
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