ECOWAS commits $500,000 in support of Sierra Leone elections

June 15, 2023 News Editor

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has provided Sierra Leone with US$500,000 in financial support towards the June 24 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

The ECOWAS Commission, also, will deploy 95 Election Observers (Long and Short-Term – LTOs/STOs) to observe the elections. The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, approved the deployment of the Observers.

This is in line with provisions of Articles 12 to 14 of the 2001 regional Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance on assistance to Member States holding elections.

The ECOWAS Election Observation Mission will be led by Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a former ECOWAS Commission President and ex-Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office in West Africa and the Sahel, with Amb. Ansumana Ceesay, former ECOWAS Representative in Liberia and Guinea-Bissau to serve as Deputy Head of Mission.

The Mission will be assisted by a Technical Team to be led by Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security.

The deployment of the Election Observation Mission is a follow-up to the joint ECOWAS and African Union pre-election fact-finding Mission to Sierra Leone from 12th to 14th April 2023.

Fifteen Long-Term Observers (LTOs) have been deployed to Sierra Leone from 15th June, 2023. The team comprises experts in election administration, gender, conflict management, security, legal and constitutional issues, and the media.

From 20th June, the LTOs will be joined by 80 STOs drawn from the ECOWAS Permanent Representatives’ Committee, Member States’ Foreign Affairs Ministries and Electoral Management Bodies, the ECOWAS Council of the Wise, Community institutions (Parliament and Court of Justice), Civil Society Organizations, the Media, and election observers.

Thirteen candidates from 17 registered political parties are vying for the Sierra Leone presidency, including incumbent President H.E. Julius Maada Bio, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).

The SLPP defeated the then-ruling All People’s Congress (APC), in the last presidential election in 2018.

Some 135 Parliamentary and 493 Local Council seats will also be in contention on 24th June.

Others seats in the spotlight of contest include the seat of the Mayor of Freetown to which APC’s Yvonne Aki-Sawyer is incumbent and SLPP’s Gento Mohammed Kamara also contesting.

The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) registered 3,374,258 voters for the 2023 elections out of an estimated population of 8.7 million. Voting will take place in 11,832 polling stations within 3,630 polling Centers across the 16 electoral districts nationwide from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

ECOWAS deepens support to Private Sector to take advantage of the AfCFTA

June 15, 2023 News Editor

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), organized a regional capacity building workshop for Master Trainers from Business Associations on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from 6 – 8 June 2023 in Abuja – Nigeria.

In her remarks, Madame Massandjé Toure-Litse, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, highlighted the need for West African businesses to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the African continental market.

She reiterated the commitment of the ECOWAS Commission to support the Private Sector to unlock investment, boost production and promote business linkages. Finally, she urged network of Trainers to accompany Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), especially women and youth entrepreneurs, to start trading under the AfCFTA.

In his remarks, Mr. Lealem Berhanu Dinku, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, recalled that intra – African trade is driven by MSMEs, which form the majority of Africa’s private sector. As a result, the UNDP promotes MSMEs capacities to produce and trade for the African market through capacity building, market access and policy advisory services.

In his remarks, Mr. Ashish Shah, Director of the Division of Country Programmes at ITC, outlined how ITC’s AfCFTA trainings emphasize the importance of investment, trade, market intelligence, and value chain development. He highlighted the need to mentor MSMEs to robust business cases for potential financing, and the available tools for support such as ITC’s trade and market intelligence tools.

During the 3-day workshop, participants from Business Associations were trained on key elements of export readiness, including export market research, export strategy, as well as operational tools of the AfCFTA. The Masters Trainers were empowered to sensitize businesses on the benefit of the AfCFTA and help them start trading in the continental market.

The workshop was attended by representatives from Business Associations, the ECOWAS Commission, UNDP, ITC and the AfCFTA Secretariat. The ECOWAS – UNDP Capacity Building Programme was launched in April 2021 with the aim to support the Private Sector in the ECOWAS region to benefit market opportunities within the framework of the AfCFTA.

Nigeria announces talks with Twitter, as Ecowas court bars government refrain on users

June 24, 2021 reputationpoll

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has assembled a reconciliation team to lead negotiations with Twitter, more than two weeks after the American social media company’s operation was indefinitely suspended in the West African nation.

The move came about after Twitter wrote to the President “seeking to engage with the Federal Government over the suspension,” according to a statement on Tuesday.

The announcement also coincided with a ruling by West African regional bloc ECOWAS barring the Nigerian government from arresting and prosecuting Nigerians and corporate bodies for circumventing the Twitter ban.

Nigerian authorities had ordered federal prosecutors to commence legal action against violators of the ban after many Nigerians continued to send tweets using a virtual private network (VPN).

Twitter’s suspension and the planned government crackdown on users of the social media platform were swiftly challenged at a local court by a human rights body, SERAP.

SERAP and a group of journalists and non-governmental organizations also approached the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, describing Twitter’s suspension as well as threats to prosecute Twitter users as “arbitrary” and “unjustified.”

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The team comprises of some of Buhari’s top ministers, including Minister of Information Lai Mohammed who accused Twitter of “double standards,” when he first announced the suspension.

In a ruling Tuesday, Justice Keikura Bangura of the ECOWAS Court ordered “the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its agents to refrain from imposing sanction on any media house or harassing, intimidating, arresting and prosecuting the Applicants, concerned Nigerians for the use of Twitter and other social media platforms,” pending conclusion of the suit filed before the court by the applicants, according to a statement by the ECOWAS.

Justice Bangura, however, declined to direct Nigerian authorities to lift the Twitter ban, the statement added.

SERAP’s lawyer, Femi Falana, has described the ruling as “a timely relief for millions of Nigerians using Twitter who have been threatened with prosecution…”

Twitter’s suspension in Nigeria came two days after the microblogging company deleted a tweet by President Buhari that was widely perceived as offensive.

The Nigerian government has accused the social media firm of allowing its platform to be used “for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”