According to the 2016 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), governance in Africa has overall slightly improved over the past decade but the security situation has clearly become worse: two out of three Africans live in a country where safety and the rule of law deteriorated over the past ten years. This is particularly the case in Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Chad. Overall, the ECOWAS area is the second best-performing African region, after southern Africa, having recorded the largest increase in its average score (52.4) for overall governance. Read on

West African finance ministers met in Dakar on 15-16 August during the 18th meeting of the joint ECOWAS-UEMOA Committee on the management of the Common External Tariff (CET). The objective of the meeting was to discuss two major concerns: the regional economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union and the implications for the ECOWAS Common External Tariff. Read on

From 7 to 8 June, ECOWAS and the World Bank organised a workshop in Accra as part of the Improved and Facilitated Trade in West Africa project. Representatives of UEMOA and the European Union also took part in the discussions. The workshop revolved around several issues related to the easing of trade in the maid trade corridors in the region, especially those that connect landlocked countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger) to coastal countries (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana). Read on

African leaders are gearing up to realize the demographic dividend in Africa. John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana, opened the 7th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights in Accra on 8 February 2016. The five-day conference gathered some 1 000 high-level experts, including African women and youth associations and other civil society representatives. Read on