At the 52nd Ordinary Session of the CILSS Council of Ministers, held on 11 March in Nouakchott, members made important decisions about CILSS leadership positions. CILSS Executive Secretary Djimé Adoum will resume his duties at the end pf March 2017. The vacant position of the Institute of the Sahel (INSAH), a specialised agency of CILSS based in Bamako, will be filled by Mauritanian Mohamed Abdellai Ebbe, who will head the institution for a three-year term that can be renewed once. As for the Agrhymet Regional Centre, based in Niamey and currently managed by an acting administrator, CILSS will start the recruitment process for a new general director as soon as possible. Following the recommendations of the audit firm, CILSS will undertake major structural reforms, particularly related to financial management. The objective is to completely reconfigure the accounting system of ClLSS by 2020. In addition, the construction of the new INSAH headquarters will be launched shortly. Mali has already identified a three-hectare plot to host the institution. The Council also announced increased collaboration between ECOWAS-UEMOA and CILSS through a  “tripartite and inclusive framework of co-operation that will enable ClLSS to carry out its missions in the region for the populations of the Sahel and West Africa.” Kassoum Denon, Mali’s Minister of Agriculture and the Minister-Coordinator of CILSS chaired the meeting. It brought together the delegations of CILSS countries, members of the governing board, Regional Programming and Monitoring Committee, experts and partners. The Sahel and West Africa Club was represented by its president François-Xavier de Donnea and his special representative, T. Jean de Dieu Somda. The next CILSS heads of state and government conference will be held in Niger during the last quarter of 2017.

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