Mahama in Ivory Coast for ECOWAS summit

Friday 28th March , 2014 8:08 am

President John Mahama

President John Mahama

President John Mahama has arrived in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast for the 44th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and government.

The two-day summit which opens on Friday will see the heads of state discussing a wide range of issues related to greater integration, transformation and prosperity of the sub-Region.

The meeting will also deliberate the signing of the EPA which the ECOWAS technical committee is expected to present a report to the heads of state for the conclusion on the matter.

Speaking to Citi News, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Hannah Tetteh said the Heads of State will discuss the report presented by the ECOWAS technical committee.

According to her, the various Foreign Affairs Ministers “received the report of the Chief negotiators who had gone to conclude on behalf of ECOWAS and essentially, our job was to make sure that what the negotiators had done was in line with the specific mandate that the heads of state had given them.”

The matter is subsequently expected to be referred back to the heads of state of a conclusion to be made.

The EPA allows countries to export goods to the EU without tariffs or maximum quotas, under World Trade Organization rules.

The European Parliament has granted the African countries an extension until October 2014 to ratify their interim EPAs.

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana