What is the good of the ECOWAS?

The ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, was founded in 1975 as an association of 15 West African states, its objective being to step up the development of its members by close economic and political cooperation. The results have so far been sobering. According to certain studies, many resolutions are taken but few are implemented. Yet this is not the entire truth, for there is progress as well: A free trade area has been established, intra-regional passenger transport has been facilitated, infrastructural measures have been realised, a mechanism for conflict resolution has been initiated, the question of the community’s income has been solved, and a functional court of justice has become reality.