ECOWAS agrees in principle to Morocco’s request to join – Report
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco on February 24, 2017 in a press release announced its intention to join the West African Regional Bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The announcement was received with mixed feelings because of primarily, the location of Morocco. As the case is, other North African countries like Libya and Egypt belong to other regional blocs. Libya and Egypt are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), a group of countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Information from the ongoing 51st Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS in Monrovia, Liberia, suggests that ECOWAS has ‘accepted in principle’ Morocco’s request to join the group.
According to an online publication moroccoworldnews.com, the ECOWAS Summit in Monrovia has agreed in principle to Morocco’s request to join the regional grouping.
“It also decided to invite His Majesty, King Mohammed VI, to the next ordinary session of ECOWAS, the final communiqué sanctioning the work of the 51st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government,” the publication said.
It added, that the leaders of West Africa have thus “agreed in principle for the accession of the Kingdom of Morocco to ECOWAS, given the strong and multidimensional ties of cooperation” that link Morocco to the States of this sub-regional organization.
The summit instructed the ECOWAS Commission to examine the implications of such accession in accordance with the provisions of the revised ECOWAS Treaty and submit the results to its next session, the report said.
In another development, an Israeli publication, The Times of Israel, reports that the Moroccan king cancelled his visit to Monrovia to attend the ECOWAS Summit because Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was attending.
The publication citing Morocco Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said King Mohammed VI “wishes his first visit to an ECOWAS Summit not to take place in a context tension and controversy.”
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi