Friday, March 30, 2007

ECOWAS Could Learn some Lessons about Communication from EAC


The East African Community is doing it right on communication by holding an open dialogue with Kenyan MPS in that country's capital of Nairobi

three points to remember:
  • "the three states are enjoying same tariffs, standardized fees in the existing 46 Universities and all use the Swahili as their national language"

  • "Kenya's Minister for the East Africa Cooperation (EAC) John Koech says the inclusion of Rwanda and Burundi in the East African Community will bring more benefits"
  • ...
    ...and more importantly

  • "Kenyans needed to be informed about the benefits of the federation"


  • Oftentimes, a lot of seminars and conferences take place within the West African sub-region, even here in Accra, and the media only gets to report on it after it takes place. As for ECOWAS getting proactive on disseminating information to West Africans, I haven't seen it yet!

    Kudos to EAC and Kenya!!

    2 comments:

    cj said...

    This is a very good site. It ties in with my belief that the only way out for many countries in the South is through regional integration. The ECOWAS block in west Africa may not be as comprehensive and far sighted as MERCOSUR but the important thing is that structures have been built. It along with the EAC seem to be the most cohesive bodies on the Continent. The MAGHREB region IGAD can't seem to get thier act together(with SADC being a partial success). Which is a shame for Africa at this moment. One topic that I think is overlooked in this discussion however is the size of the informal trade that exists between countries. It is somteimes so large that I would speculate that it is where the real inter trade figures actually lie as opposed to what is documented. Keep up the good work and I will check on this site from time to time.

    Emmanuel.K.Bensah II said...

    c weekes--many thanks for your comments. I will endeavour to encapsulate that in my discussions. Seeing as I'm not an economist, I try to steer away from such technical discussions, but it's clear that the two go somewhat hand in hand.

    Thanks for your ideas!!