By Linus Aleke
Time is now ripe for national authorities in Africa, regional and sub-regional blocks, as well as multilateral institutions, to get down to work and begin to look beyond policy documents and set goals to sincere implementation of policy documents.

Good policies without the deliberate effort of authorities to translate the vision in the policy into reality are comparable to the wasted energy of a child who labours to fetch water with a basket.

West Africa houses national principalities that rank very low in all indices of human development and advancement.

The sub-region is also host to some of the most lethal terrorist organizations on the planet earth. It is also a notorious enclave for coup d’état in the world.

Nigeria, which is the largest and most populous country in not only West Africa but entire Africa, is the headquarters of the poorest people in the world according to Brookings Institution.

This inglorious position it grabbed from India has come to stay if urgent and practical steps are not taken to relinquish the inglorious and shameful ranking.

The Gulf of Guinea which is dominantly situated in West Africa is also the hub of piracy and one of the worst waterways on the surface of the earth with incessant pirate attacks and sea robbery.

The latest report by ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reveals that the Gulf of Guinea accounted for nearly half (43%) of all reported piracy incidents in the first three months of 2021.

This is notwithstanding the huge investment in maritime security by national authorities in the Gulf.

No single country in West Africa attained any of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ended in the year 2000, and none is prepared to make any giant stride in the ongoing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is billed to wind up in 2030.

As we all know, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Vision 2020, the African Union’s (AU), Silencing the Gun by 2020 all ended in a mirage.

These horrifying indices and failed developmental goals and agenda, however, did not deter the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), from dreaming new dreams by formulating yet another vision christened “ECOWAS Vision 2050,” a 30 years development agenda for West Africa.

The Community Parliament of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is currently holding its first Parliamentary Seminar in 2022, at the Liberian capital Monrovia to discuss the adopted policy document amongst several other debilitating issues confronting the sub-region.

Speaking at the official opening of the Parliamentary Seminar, the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, said the ECOWAS Vision 2025 will henceforth be the basis for actions and relationships over the next thirty years.

He opined: “To improve the quality of life of the people in our region to the level of our counterparts in the developed world, a framework that defines clearly where we are now as a region, where we want to be by 2050 and how to get there, must be formulated”.

Tunis also averred that visioning, in this context, means creating multiple alternative development strategies and integrated implementation approaches for reaching the goals of future regional development.
He inferred that it was on the aforesaid premise that the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government adopted ECOWAS Vision 2050 of the Community at its 60th Ordinary Session, held on 12th December 2021 in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Speaker said it is expected that the Vision would provide policy prescriptions to tackle the complex issues of the community.

According to him, “We are convinced that with a Vision document that defines our regional priorities, we can make much progress in the areas of good governance, sustainable development, capacity enhancement, economic growth and most importantly, peace and security. Because with peace and security, numerous external threats, that can disrupt and derail socio-economic progress can be discerned and countered.”

The Speaker further expressed optimism that their exchange of views at the seminar, would help them to better understand the Vision and use it as a tool for the preparation of the Strategic Plans for all future programs and activities.

The theme of the Parliamentary Seminar is “ECOWAS Vision 2050: Development process and Implementation challenges.”

On her part, the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Madam Finda Koroma, said the development of the ECOWAS 2050 document is all-inclusive as it revolves around the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the sub-region.

Represented by commissioners from the commission, Koroma applauded the ECOWAS Parliament for the brilliant initiative.

“We have carried out a series of wide consultations from every sector of the sub-region to accommodate all shades of opinions and input to make our region better and progressive,” she said.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Liberia, Bhofa Chamber, reminded the august gathering that peace and harmony is the basic requirement of a people.

He expressed optimism that the new policy document will not go the way of others before it.

Reiterating the above-expressed opinion, the President of Liberia, Mr. George Weah advised the parliamentarians to ensure that the document does not toe the path of Vision 2020 that did not meet up with the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the sub-region.

Represented by Minister for Commerce and Industry Mawine Diggs, the President said:

“We must hold every arm of the government at every level accountable to work towards the success of the implementation of the vision 2050. We cannot afford to fail our people again. The Legislature must do a proper oversight to make the sub-region proud”.
Proffering some of the workable strategies and action plans that will help the sub-region actualize the ECOWAS Vision 2050, A Resource Person and Professor of Economics, University Felix Houphouet Boigny of Cocody-Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, Prof. Alban Alphonse Ahoure emphasized the need to sensitize citizens of the community support the Vision.

In a paper titled, “Mechanisms for Monitoring and Evaluation and Periodic Review of Vision 2050,” the Microeconomics and Applied Economics, Specialist spell out the roles of the ECOWAS Commission and that of Member States.

Ahoure postulated that the role of the ECOWAS Commission amongst others includes organizing intensive sensitization and communication campaigns aimed at ensuring ownership of the process by all the relevant stakeholders.

This action he added will not only help the citizens of the sub-region to be carried along, but it will also give them a better understanding that will help them take ownership of the entire process.

“The ECOWAS Commission is also expected to help the member states in the conceptualization, implementation, monitoring, review, and evaluation of the Vision 2050 programme as this is the only way member states can fully buy into the process. Furthermore, it is also the responsibility of the ECOWAS Commission to contribute to the member states, resource mobilization strategies as well as periodically monitor and evaluate the implementation status of the Vision in member states,” the academic further posited.

He also identified roles Member States are expected to play in other to enhance the achievements of the 2025 Vision.

He said: “The member states are expected to develop and implement appropriate monitoring, review and evaluation mechanism and indicators. The purpose of these indicators is to monitor the progress and determine the achievement of the objectives through progress indicators and to evaluate performance to monitor the allocation and use of resources as well as compliance with the term of reference to anticipate failures and difficulties.

“It is also a designed responsibility for member states to evaluate the impact of the programme/projects and adapt the programme strategy taking into consideration the possibilities of changes in the situation for improved results and impact.”

He said that the member states can also develop internal capacity and tools for monitoring, review, and evaluation of the vision programme and where necessary seek the support of the ECOWAS Commission, African Union, United Nations, and other relevant partners and stakeholders.

“It is also imperative that member states should conduct regular monitoring, review, and evaluation activities in a transparent and participatory manner as well as prepare the mid-term Reports and make them available to stakeholders.

“Strengthening of prospective structures, strategic planning and monitoring in all the institutions will be vital to introduce a pragmatic approach based on priorities and result in oriented management within the framework of programme design and implementation,” he said.

On funding of the project, Ahoure said that financing of ECOWAS Vision 2050 is one of the key success factors for its realisation.

He posited that achieving Vision 2050 requires adequate, sufficient, and complementary potential resources.

This he further noted calls for some determined efforts by the member states to step up in the implementation of the protocol on the Community levy.

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He opined, “The vigorous and committed implementation of this protocol and related mechanism will enable the Community to mobilise the necessary funds to cover a large part of its financial obligations. The potential sources of funding are varied and each has particular characteristics according to the main institutional actors which include states, private sector, and international partners”.

He explained that under Resource mobilisation the implementation of Vision 2050 also requires efforts in the rationalisation and efficient use of resources.

This according to him is in addition to mobilising domestic and external resources while innovative financing strategies involving the private sector will be needed.