ECOWAS IN A MOVE TO REVITALIZE THE ECONOMIES OF MEMBER STATES HIT BY THE EVD

The ECOWAS Commission has indicated that steeps have been put in place to revitalize the economies of Member States – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone that was hit by the Ebola Virus Disease between 2014 and some confirmed cases reported in March 2016. In the discussion segment of the Community Status Report with Members of Parliament, the Vice President of ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency, Edward Singhatey who presented the report in place of the President of the Commission, His Excellency, Marcel A. de Souza, pointed out that ECOWAS has initiated some vital moves put in place to check the resurgence of the deadly disease.

Fielding a question by Honourable Daffe Aissata (Guinea), who inquired from the Vice President of the Commission on the practical steps taken by ECOWAS to support Member States (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone) whose economies were ravaged by the impact of the Ebola Virus Disease; Singhatey, mentioned that the Commission has engaged partners who serves as donors to revive the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. He further stated that Early Response Team has been assembled in Accra Ghana to serve as first respondents in case of a resurgence of the deadly virus.

However, Mr. Singhatey admonished the government of Member States to put the right policies in place as a collaborative effort with the Commission’s quest to ameliorate the effects of the disease on the economies of affected States. According to him, “there is nothing we can do unilaterally without the government since we are a Commission answerable to the Council of Ministers”. He concluded.