Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
The two regional organisations, the ECOWAS and the UEMOA Commissions, are implementing a strategy to accelerate the process of long-term consultation and convergence through a variable geometry and different rhythms approach between the two regional organisations.
The Treaty establishing the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)) inspires the transport policy of the UEMOA Commission. The Treaty, in its Additional Protocol No. II (Article 7) requires the definition of a scheme for the improvement of transport infrastructure and systems linking the Member States and the measures necessary for its implementation.
The sectoral challenges relating to the planning and monitoring of road infrastructure, the reduction of axle overload, the reduction of transport obstacles on corridors would be better addressed within a regional and federating framework of valets that would converge within a Regional Transport Observatory. This observatory would be an instrument at the service of administrations, technicians and decision-makers for monitoring the implementation of regional transport policies and strategies. It would strengthen, through the data it will be called upon to manage, the study and planning of Regional Authorising Officers (ROs) and Ministries in charge of infrastructure and transport in UEMOA and ECOWAS member countries and will help to inform the choices of these public actors in terms of transport policy. One of the modern approaches to improving border operations is the construction and operation of juxtaposed control stations. As a trade and transport facilitation tool, they promote a coordinated and integrated approach to border controls to facilitate trade, the movement of people and improve security. To this end, the UEMOA Commission, with the support of technical and financial partners, in particular the European Union has begun to implement a programme to build control stations, including Malanville on the border between Benin and Niger. The work of this checkpoint has been completed and provisions are being implemented for its operationalisation.
