July 30, 2018
By Elizabeth A. Kaine
Alie Kabba minister of Foreign Affair
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Alie Kabba, will today join other Ministers of Foreign Affairs at the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) and Economic Community Central African State (ECCAS) at a summit in Lomé, Togo, to discuss security issues in the sub-region.
The joint meetings of ministers and the summit of Heads of State and Government of the two regional institutions will consolidate the joint effort made by the two regions since 2015.
Ahead of the meeting of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS and ECCAS on 30 July, Dr. Kabba will join other ministers and those in charge of Defence or Security to consider and adopt the draft declaration and draft joint final communique to be issued at the end of the joint summit of leaders of the two Regional Economic Communities.
It is no secret that illegal cross-border activities such as terrorism, money laundering, violent extremism as well as trafficking in arms, person and drugs are common security threats in Central and West Africa.
These threats hinder peace, security and stability and also undermine development efforts of ECOWAS and ECCAS member’s states.
In order to address the challenges, the two regional economic organisations have respectively taken legal or political measures to prevent or specifically respond to these threats.
ECCAS comprises eleven countries: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe and Rwanda, while ECOWAS has fifteen member states.