The growth rate within the countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) amounted to 5.7% in 2022, down 0.4% compared to 2021, the authorities announced on Monday. leaders of this organization meeting at the summit in Abidjan.
The eight member countries of UEMOA (Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso) have not been spared by “the deep crises which affect the whole world”, in particular “the consequences of the war in Ukraine”, just when “our economies were recovering from the shock” of the crisis linked to Covid, underlined the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
In addition to the growth rate going from 6.1% in 2021 to 5.7% in 2022, inflation rose within the union from 3.6% to 7.5% in 2022, noted Mr. Ouattara in considering that its member countries had nevertheless been able to show “resilience”.
Noting that the security situation was “worrying” due to “increasing terrorist attacks” in several WAEMU countries, in particular Burkina Faso and Mali, he noted that part of the expenditure which should have been allocated “education and health” have been “defense and security”.
The Abidjan summit was held the day after that in Abuja of the fifteen member countries of ECOWAS to which belong those of UEMOA, which notably decided to create a regional force to intervene not only against jihadism but also in case of coup d’etat, as the region has seen several over the past two years.
Several West African countries are in the grip of the jihadist spread which, starting from northern Mali, has reached the center of this country, but also Burkina Faso and Niger, and is spreading towards the south and the Gulf of Guinea.
The national armies are largely powerless and cooperate with external actors, the UN, France or even Russia.
Insecurity is a primary factor in the military coups that have rocked the region since 2020, in Mali, Burkina and, for other reasons, in Guinea.
“ECOWAS leaders have decided to recalibrate our security architecture,” said Omar Touray, chairman of the ECOWAS commission, in Abuja. They are “resolved to establish a regional force that will intervene when necessary, whether it is security, terrorism or restoring constitutional order in member states”, he said.