ACCRA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would not be able to make the bold and transforming changes it needed to make without visionary and strong political leadership, said Ghanaian President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the international conference of the ECOWAS Court of Justice Tuesday.
The president cited the absence of strong leadership as the inhibiting factor in achieving the vision of the economic and political integration of West Africa.
"We need leadership that is focused on the region, and not on individual countries," Akufo-Addo said.
"Once the political will is evident, we can then work together to make ECOWAS a true regional community," he added.
The sub-regional bloc ECOWAS was formed in 1975 to create an economic union that facilitates the free movement of goods and services among all West African countries.
The leadership of ECOWAS considers regional economic integration as the most cost-effective way for broad-based economic development.
"It is also an effective way to overcome the limitations of our small internal matters, and increase our bargaining power, reduce negotiation cost, and ultimately reduce the high rate of poverty and unemployment," the head of the macroeconomic department of ECOWAS Kofi Konadu Apraku said.
Nigerian permanent representative to the ECOWAS Commission Babatunde Nurudeen told Xinhua in an interview that the sub-regional bloc could do better.
