ECOWAS: Political traction with Africa’s oldest regional organisation
What blocks or drives regional integration in Africa? And what role do regional organisations play in this? To answer these questions, we have dug deeper into the political economy dynamics of 17 regional organisations in Africa.
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This policy brief analyses why the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its regional and national level stakeholders operate as they do. It looks at the political traction of ECOWAS in two specific regional agendas, namely on violent conflict and unconstitutional transfers of power as well as on food security and agriculture. It is based on a background paper that was prepared in March 2017.
This work is part of ECDPM's PEDRO project (‘The political economy of dynamics of regional organisations in Africa’), which looks into the political economy dynamics of 17 regional organisations in Africa. The study, carried out with support from the German ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ), will try to understand the actors and factors that shape how regional organisations play their role in promoting regional integration and cooperation.
