Brussels, 4 April 2014/ ACP: The ACP Secretary General H.E Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni welcomed the Prime Minister of Cote D'Ivoire, H.E. Daniel Kablan Duncan to the ACP House for a courtesy call on Tuesday 1 April.

The Ivorian delegation also included Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister in Charge of Regional Integration, Minister of Industry and Mining, along with other Cabinet representatives as well as Brussels-based Ambassador H.E Jean Vincent Zinsou.

Mr Mumuni congratulated Prime Minister Duncan on Côte d’Ivoire’s successful chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) from 2012 to 2014, after overcoming a period of political crisis in the country in the two years prior.

The Secretary General also applauded the “good news” from the region, following the decision by West African leaders last week to back an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU “in principle”, but only on the condition that outstanding technical issues are smoothed out within two months.

Prime Minister Duncan highlighted the initiative taken by ECOWAS to continue negotiating EPA together as a bloc. He underlined key achievements in economic integration and infrastructure development in the region, including the ongoing plans for a single currency by 2020 and a common market, and plans to build a transnational highway from Lagos, Nigeria to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire which aims to promote trade and mobility. Five West African states have agreed to put in USD 50 million as seed funding for the project.

Mr Duncan and Mr Mumuni, who previously worked together as Ministers of Foreign Affairs in their respective countries, affirmed their commitment to continued cooperation.

(Photo: ACP Secretary General H.E Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni with the Prime Minister of Cote d'Ivoire H.E Daniel Kablan Duncan)

– ACP Press