July 8, 2011
Chatham House
Abstract:
I consider it a singular honour to have been invited today by Chatham House
to address this august forum. The Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS), which I represent, is a regional organisation which has,
over the years, gained your attention only for the unfortunate reasons of state
implosion and instability caused by bad governance and marginalisation. I
therefore welcome the opportunity to throw further light on its objectives,
challenges, and achievements, which factors have effectively brought
together fifteen West African states in the enterprise of improving upon the
living standards of 230 million people as well as integrating them.
The term ‘Chatham House Rule’ is today an internationally-accepted cliché
that this Institute has contributed to international diplomacy discourse, a
reference norm in rigorous and policy-oriented exchanges on global peace
and security. I therefore view your invitation to lead today’s discourse about
‘Democracy in the context of Regional Integration in West Africa’ as an
unique honour for me personally, and a recognition of ECOWAS as a leading
brand in regional integration.
Ladies and gentlemen, the evolution of ECOWAS can only be properly
understood against the backdrop of the fascinating history and circumstances
of West Africa since establishing contact with the world beyond its borders.
The fact that slavery, colonialism, as well as racial and economic
marginalisation, had left an intrinsic yearning for freedom, unity and solidarity
among peoples of African descent everywhere defines its wish to integrate its
states and peoples....
May 24, 2011
Security Council Report
Abstract:
This special research report provides an analysis of a set of new issues that have been emerging in the West African subregion and possible implications for the Security Council in the coming year(s). It identifies some key emerging threats to peace and security in the 16-state subregion and their linkages to existing security challenges. The report points to a key feature: the fact that some of the new threats are essentially criminal rather than political in nature. However, it explains also the growing political and security implications. The report also highlights action already taken by the Council to recognise these threats and considers options available to the Council to tackle these issues going forward.
The raw material for the study was derived from literature research; field research in a number of countries in the West African subregion (including Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria); and interviews in the region with diplomats, government officials and officials of relevant international intergovernmental bodies (e.g. UN Office in West Africa or UNOWA, UN Office for Drugs and Crime or UNODC, the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS and the AU), NGOs and academics....
December 1, 2010
Atlantic Council of the United States // The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center // On the Horizon Project
Abstract:
This report presents the analysis and recommendations
of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa
Center in cooperation with the On the Horizon Project
to advance U.S. strategic interests in West Africa. Unaddressed problems of poor governance, severe poverty,
widespread public corruption, and growing insecurity from the
presence of criminal and militant enterprises engaged in theft,
terrorism, trafficking, piracy, poaching, and pollution will
continue to punish local populations and create conditions
of instability that undermine public order from greater levels
of armed confl ict and mass migration and threaten the
reliable flow of oil from the region. As noted in a recent United
Nations report, the “combination of coups from the top and
insurgencies from below render West Africa in the opinion of
the UN the least politically stable region in the world.” While this report focuses on the maritime
domain, the Atlantic Council approaches the regional
security challenges from a broad perspective. Security
issues are holistic and must be addressed as such. The
dynamics and consequences of insecurity in the maritime
domain are part of a wider, more complex political and
security dynamic encompassing rule of law, governance,
public capacities, and economic and human development
across geographic, societal, and national domains. Just
as the causes, manifestations, and consequences
of insecurity are comprehensive, so too must be the
preventatives and remedies.
This document provides a broad strategic-level analysis
and corresponding recommendations for action that can,
and we believe should, be supported and implemented
by U.S. and allied policymakers, African leaders, and key
stakeholders....
November 2, 2010
Institute for Security Studies // L'Institut d'Etudes de Sécurité
Abstract:
This paper aims to appraise and map the security challenges that have faced West African countries since independence with a special focus on the period after 1990. It also assesses the efforts made by various national, regional, continental and extra-African actors and makes suggestions on how the shortcomings in these efforts could be improved. An effort is made to show the evolution of at least some of the challenges over the years, in the hope that this could contribute to a better formulation of policy responses.
The study is based on extensive review of existing literature, complemented by field research in the region undertaken in July and August 2010, in addition to general familiarity with the region from many previous research visits on related subjects.
Without neglecting other issues that could be considered as security threats, and without attempting any hierarchical ordering of these threats, the paper focuses on the following six major issues: i) armed conflict, ii) military coups and unconstitutional changes of government; iii) mismanagement of electoral processes; iv) transnational criminality, particularly drug trafficking, terrorism and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea; v) poverty and illiteracy; vi) climate change and environmental degradation....
July 9, 2009
Human Rights Watch
Abstract:
The government of Equatorial Guinea has set new low standards of political and economic malfeasance in handling its billions of dollars in oil revenue instead of improving the lives of its citizens, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 107-page report, "Well Oiled: Oil and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea," details how the dictatorship under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has used an oil boom to entrench and enrich itself further at the expense of the country's people. Since oil was discovered there in the early 1990s, Equatorial Guinea's gross domestic product (GDP) has increased more than 5,000 percent, and the country has become the fourth-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, living standards for the country's 500,000 people have not substantially improved.
"Here is a country where people should have the per capita wealth of Spain or Italy, but instead they live in poverty worse than in Afghanistan or Chad," said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "This is a testament to the government's corruption, mismanagement, and callousness toward its own people."...
Equatorial Guinea 
