Marcel Alain De Souza, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), met with President Rivlin in Israel today. They spoke about economic cooperation between Israel and West African countries.
“Africa is key to the future of the world. Your organization facilitates the cooperation between the individual African countries, and also between Africa and the whole world which looks to see what is happening there,” remarked Rivlin. “We have excellent cooperation, and we welcome the opportunity for Israel to contribute from its knowledge and abilities in the fields of health, water and agriculture; a sign of the friendship between us.”
ECOWAS is a 15-member regional group, constituting around 320 million people, with a mandate of promoting economic integration in all fields of activity of the constituting countries. Member countries making up ECOWAS are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
The recent few weeks have shown an increase of cooperation, diplomatically, economically and politically between Israel and African countries. There seems to be a major regional trend of countries reaching out to Israel for guidance and training in technology, agriculture and security.