Buhari canvases economic recovery plan for ECOWAS
Leaders of the fifteen nation economic bloc in West Africa, ECOWAS, have been charged to come up with an economic recovery plan to help member-states recover from the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari gave the charge on Thursday at a virtual meeting with the President of ECOWAS Commission, Jean Kassi-Brou.
President Buhari promise to provide logistic support to enable the region receive and distribute procured and donated medical equipment using Abuja as the hub for the distribution.
The Nigerian President who is also the ECOWAS COVID-19 Champion, lamented that the pandemic is yet to reach its peak in the West African region and warned against laxity in the fight against it.
He called on member-states to continually sensitise their citizens on preventive measures.
President Buhari expressed appreciation on behalf of ECOWAS member-states for the “swift interventions made to the West African Health Organisation, WAHO, and the Africa Centre for Disease Control by the Jack Ma Foundation,” while also commending the support so far received from “development partners such as the European Union, EU, African Development Bank, AfDB, France and Germany for their financial contributions in the procurement of medical supplies.”
The Nigerian leader urged member-states to collaborate in order to overcome the pandemic in the area.
In his report to President Buhari, the President of ECOWAS Commission, Kassi-Brou, advocated additional strategies to assist the region in fighting the health and economic impact of COVID-19.
According to him, these include, the need for advocacy at continental and global levels particularly with the G20, World Bank, United Nations and the African Development Bank etc, for support to negate the health and economic damage to ECOWAS, and mass awareness campaign to achieve behavioural change among the citizens of the community with effective customs, security and health protocols put in place throughout the region.
The ECOWAS Commission President used the opportunity to condole with the government and people of Nigeria on the recent Boko Haram attack on Gubio Local Government area of Borno State during which scores of innocent Nigerians were killed.
