West Africa-China Relations

(Press Release)--A delegation of West Africa’s public and private sector operators are due in Beijing for a joint forum with their Chinese counterparts in an effort to stimulate increased Chinese investment in the strategic sectors of the regional economy.

Approximately 450 private and public sector operators are participating in the forum of which some 350 are from the private sectors of the 15 ECOWAS Member States. About 100 other public sector operators are part of the delegation to the forum, a follow-up to last year’s successful China-Africa Summit where the ECOWAS Commission and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade agreed on the forum as a platform to promote, develop and institutionalise their strategic partnership.

The four-day inaugural ECOWAS China Economic and Trade Forum, which will open on Tuesday, 23rd September 2008, will elevate the existing bilateral relations between China and ECOWAS Member States to a strategic partnership by exploring and concretising agreements for Chinese investment in critical sectors.

The objective is to use such investments to stimulate the economy of the region, generate employment and contribute towards the realisation of the ECOWAS vision for the region’s development. Emphasis is mostly on investments in the development of infrastructure, exploitation of natural resources, agriculture, banking and other services.

Also represented on the delegation is the ECOWAS Commission led by its President, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) and the Guarantee Fund for Investment in West Africa.

ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated and other major financial institutions such as the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Stanbic Bank, IBTC, First Bank and the African Guarantee Fund for Cooperation and Development are also represented on the delegation. In total, about 25 financial institutions are attending the forum.

Officials of the ECOWAS Commission will discuss with Chinese officials proposals for the signing of Memoranda of Understanding in six areas. These are in the areas of infrastructure development, livestock development, technical exchanges in agriculture, the establishment of an ECOWAS official market in China and a Chinese wholesale market in West Africa. The markets will facilitate access to products from West Africa in China and Chinese products in the region.

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