Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

About Economic Community of West African States: 

• It is also known as CEDEAO in French.
• It is the regional group which was established in 1975 through the Lagos Treaty.
• Mandate: Promoting economic integration among its members.
• The vision of ECOWAS is the creation of a “borderless region” that is well-integrated and governed in accordance with the principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance.
• Members: Benin, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
• ECOWAS’ larger aims are to have a single common currency and create a single, large trading bloc in areas of industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, financial issues, and social and cultural matters.
• Along with the goals of economic cooperation, it has attempted to quell military conflicts in the region. 
• It also operated a regional peacekeeping operation known as ECOMOG, led by Nigeria in the 1990s and early 2000s.
• Headquarter: Abuja, Nigeria. 

Q1:What is ECOMOG?

The Economic Community of West African States created a military branch called ECOWAS Monitoring Group ECOMOG. It was created to perform peacekeeping operations in the ECOWAS countries in crises. Since its establishment, ECOMOG has been deployed in Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Guinea-Eissau.

Source:Burkina, Mali, Niger quit West African bloc ECOWAS