CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Anicet L.Quenum, Benin, August 1998
THEME = INTERNAT.REL.
The 39th annual meeting of the
Entente Council was held in August in Cotonou, Benin.
It was more than a summit, rather, a family meeting
to strengthen links between member states
in view of the challenges presented by tourism,
economic integration and peace in West Africa
The Entente Council's heads of state - Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, Henri Konan Bedié of Côte d'Ivoire, Ibrahim Baré Mainassare of Niger and Gnassingbé Eyadema of Togo - all replied in the affirmative to the invitation sent out by President Mathieu Kerekou of Benin, who has been the Entente's president since 16 August 1998. He will hold office until 29 May 1999, date of the next summit to be held in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire. This occasion will also mark the 40th Anniversary of the Entente.
The Entente Council, Africa's longest-standing francophone political and economic association, owes its unity to the efficiency and capacity of its five member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger and Togo. A small number makes for easier handling, shorter discussions and better understanding between members. This was shown at the 39th summit held on 13 August behind closed doors which lasted exactly four hours - long enough for the agenda to be worked through.
The five heads of state had as their major concern, the region's economic growth; to this end they signed two agreements - one dealing with cooperation in national lotteries within member states, and the other, the introduction of an Entente Tourist Visa.
The Cotonou summit was determined that this Visa should become an established fact - to this purpose, all Entente heads of state voted in favour of the motion. Each one realized the importance of developing the tourist industry as an economic asset for the region. As tourism is a very profitable product, the only way to go about it is to ensure that tourists have every facility for travelling around and that they are safe when travelling. That's the way to develop tourism throughout the Entente countries and that's why a tourist visa valid for all countries of the Entente is so important.
What will this Visa look like? It will be in the form of a stamp with a special code, and will cost CFA francs 25,000. It is valid for 60 days, not renewable during the stay, and it authorizes the visitor to visit all the five countries of the Entente Council, an area covering about 2,031,000kmý.
Excluded from holding such a Visa are those nationals whose countries have broken off diplomatic relations with one or other members of the Entente Council, or any other person considered to be a danger to the security of any one of the five member states. If an applicant is not eligible for an Entente Visa, he can apply in the ordinary way for a Visa for a particular country. In this case he is subject to that country's rules and regulations governing immigration procedures. In some ways, the Entente Visa is much like the European Schengen Visa.
Apart from matters dealing with the introduction of the Entente Visa, the 39th summit was much like previous ones. The five head of states hadn't anything dramatic to deal with apart from launching an appeal for moderation on all sides in the current phase of crisis situations in Africa - Guinea-Bissau, Congo RDC, Angola and the Horn of Africa. One and all were agreed on their condemnation of terrorism. They also renewed their determination to continue their work for democracy in their countries, keeping in mind the realities of present-day Africa and the specific needs of their peoples.
The Entente Council was founded in 1959 and is one of the few associations of its kind in Africa to have stood the test of time, even if at the moment, it is confronted with very serious cash- flow problems because of member states not paying their contributions to central funds. In spite of this, its action in solidarity with the different populations is remarkable, especially in the sphere of agriculture, supplying water to villages, bringing electricity to rural areas, engaging in small and medium sized development projects, commitment to tourism and efforts to improve transport throughout the region.
To carry through its various projects, the Council has a mutual aid fund and a loans guarantee fund. The main purpose of having such funds is to act as guarantor for productive loans given or taken out by countries, state-owned organisations, parastatals, private businesses, having their head offices and their field of activities in one or several countries of the Entente. These loans are in view of financing profit-making industrial, agricultural or commercial projects.
All of which goes to show that by integrating its resources, the Entente Council can and does enhance economic development throughout the region .
END
CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement