The document discusses the difficulties of traveling within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region due to a lack of standardization. While ECOWAS aims to allow for free movement between countries, airports lack consistent wireless access, phone networks do not carry over between countries, and English publications are scarce in Francophone countries. The author proposes that ECOWAS establish airport standards, telecommunications regulators create a unified network, and a West African airline be developed to reduce ticket costs and make travel within the region more seamless.

1. “The Accidental Ecowas & AU Citizen”:
Accra, Dakar, Bamako – or Steps to Make
Travelling in ECOWAS Less Stressful
By E.K.Bensah Jr
Last two weeks, I had the priviledge of going to the Senegalese capital of Dakar for a work-related
conference, and I came back home to Accra even more frustrated than ever as to why travelling
throughout the sub-region should be as chaotic and frustrating as it is.
As you may well know by now, the cornerstone of any serious sense of regional integration ought to
be the power to freely move from one country to another. Given that ECOWAS has been around for
more than three decades, one would have expected that there be a certain and acceptable level of
standard at the airports. Sadly, as some of you may well know, there is not.
Where’s the wireless?
First, while there is wireless in Accra, I don’t believe there are so many hotspots at Kotoka
International Airport the way there are at Senghor International Airport. As soon as one touches down
in Dakar, if you have a smartphone, you are likely to see some five or six hotspots show up on your
mobile phone. Bamako Senou had three, but none of them were accessible without a password, and
when one enquired to obtain access, no-one seemed to know. If you are likely to be stuck at the
airport for whatever inexplicable reason, at least, one needs a degree of sanity through access to the
internet on one’s phone or laptop. Senou just did not seem to measure up.
Where’s the network?
While it was possible to use my MTN number to contact friends and family during a stopover at
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, same could not be said at Bamako or Dakar. This is simply because the Frenchbacked ORANGE – instead of the South-African MTN – is widely used in most francophone West African
countries. Forget AIRTEL. That network is not used in any of the aforementioned countries. TIGO and
EXPRESSO, found in Ghana, are used in Dakar. I don’t know for EXPRESSO, but when I enquired about
using my TIGO number in Dakar, I was told I had to deposit minimum of 150GHC as security before I
am able to use the network in that country. When I asked one of the hotel workers, however, he said
that in Dakar, you merely pay 2000CFA, or equivalent of 6GHC before being able to “roam” with your
number!!
Where are the English magazines?
So we know how attached the French are to their language and the propagation of their literature, but
this takes the biscuit. In Ghana, you will find both English and French magazines on sale; conversely
in Dakar and Bamako, there were only francophone newspapers and magazine. Bamako had the
exception of selling “Africa Report”, but both at Dakar airport and at a supermarket in Senegal’s capital
city, one could not find a single English-speaking magazine. How is that supposed to engender
regional cooperation and understanding among the francophone and Anglophone member states?
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2. Where’s the West African carrier?
In the ECOWAS sub-region, there is regrettably no “Air ECOWAS”; instead, there is the Togo-based
“ASKY”, managed by Ethiopian Airlines and which has backing from ECOBANK; ECOWAS; UEMOA;
among many other stakeholders, lending itself the image of being ECOWAS’ “de facto” carrier. Never
mind that the name is deceptive or the fact that the cost of air tickets at ASKY are high, it does not
even yet cover all of West Africa! There is AIR SENEGAL and AIR MALI, but the conspicuous absence of
Ghana Airways leaves a bitter taste in the Ghanaian mouth.
In the light of all these major complaints, here are some ways in which ECOWAS, as a sub-regional
organisation, can deal with these challenges:
First, ECOWAS ought to establish a standard for its airports, which include hotspots, accessible
wireless, and fully-working air-conditioners in all parts of an ECOWAS member state airport
an
association of telecommunications regulators in West Africa, ought to sign an Memorandum of
Understanding(MoU) between itself and ECOWAS so that it can create a standardized telecom operator
throughout the sub-region, so that the traveler does not waste resources on SIM Cards. While it is very
encouraging to read that in 2010, WATRA sought to lower call tariffs across West Africa and called for a
common ICT operating platform in West Africa, much remains to be done with ECOWAS to ensure that
travelling and calling in West Africa are as seamless as elsewhere in the West.
Secondly, the Nigeria-based West African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly, which is
Finally, ECOWAS should join the Association of African Airlines(AFRAA) to ensure that the plan for joint
fuel purchase is effectuated so that the cost of travelling in the sub-region is brought down considerably.
These may be pie-in-the-sky ruminations, but in West Africa – as in the whole of Africa, hope springs
eternal!
In 2009, in his capacity as a “Do More Talk Less Ambassador” of the 42 nd Generation—an NGO that promotes and discusses PanAfricanism--Emmanuel gave a series of lectures on the role of ECOWAS and the AU in facilitating a Pan-African identity. Emmanuel
owns "Critiquing Regionalism" (http://www.critiquing-regionalism.org). Established in 2004 as an initiative to respond to
the dearth of knowledge on global regional integration initiatives worldwide, this non-profit blog features regional integration initiatives
on MERCOSUR/EU/Africa/Asia and many others. You can reach him on ekbensah@ekbensah.net / Mobile: 0268.687.653.
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