ECOWAS Commission Assesses the Ownership and Implementation of the Revised Operational Manual for The ECOWAS National Office in Senegal

Dakar, Senegal, April 14, 2023. In the context of efforts to ensure consistency and coherence in the ownership and implementation of the Revised Operational Manual for the ECOWAS National Offices, an ECOWAS delegation began the first leg of its three-countries (Senegal, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire) assessment mission with a working session with the ECOWAS National Office in Dakar, Senegal from 12th to 13th April 2023.

The assessment was aimed at ascertaining the level of support and commitment of the Member States in their implementation of the Revised Operational Manual as well as to identify challenges and constraints that could emerge from its ownership so as to put in place corrective measures. The Revised Operational Manual was adopted by the Council of Ministers in December 2021 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The Assessment team was led by Mr. Jerome BOA, Director of External Relations and supported by officials from the Directorate of External Relations. The team met with  Amb. Stephan Sylvain SAMBOU, Head of the ECOWAS National Office in Senegal and Amb. Jean Antoine DIOUF, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, who was previously the Head of ECOWAS National Office in Senegal.

Amb. Stephan Sylvain Sambou, welcomed the assessment team and expressed his deep gratitude for the assessment mission as it offered the opportunity to identify areas for improvement in the ownership and implementation the Manual. Leveraging on his experience as the former Head of ECOWAS National Office, Amb. Diouf noted that there is a need for enhanced flow of communication between the Commission and ECOWAS National Offices. He also highlighted the importance of synergy and coordination in enhancing ECOWAS visibility at the national level. He reiterated the commitment of the Senegalese Government H.E. Madame Aissata TALL SALL, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, towards supporting the 4X4 objectives of the ECOWAS Management and ECOWAS Vision 2050.

Mr. Jerome Boa briefed the Senegalese interlocutors about the Revised Operational Manual and reassured them of the continuing availability of the Commission and the Directorate of External Relations in supporting the ECOWAS National Office as it implements and operationalises the Revised Manual. He also used the opportunity to update the ECOWAS National Offices about the Aid Management Platform (AMP) being developed at the

Commission as information and communication tool to enable the Commission and Member states through the ECOWAS National Offices and Development Partners to gather access, and monitor information on regional partners’ projects, with the overarching goal of increasing aid effectiveness. The AMP aims to help users to track specific projects through the planning, implementation, and evaluation stages. Furthermore, its features such as online workspaces, data entry, reporting, interactive dashboards and maps provide the Commission and Member states with strategic information for efficient decision-making.

The Assessment team also took a detour of the ECOWAS National Office in Senegal with view to review the physical and staff complement of the office in line with the provisions of Article 2 of the Revised Operational Manual.

The observations and recommendations of the Assessment team as well as the suggestions for improving the ownership and implementation of the Revised Operational made by the Senegalese interlocutors will be shared with the other ECOWAS National Offices and the Commission. From Senegal, the assessment team will proceed to Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.