West African regional bloc ECOWAS has called on Nigeria and other countries to undergo “necessary structural reforms” to improve their economies as a collapse in oil and commodity prices continues to cripple economic growth.
Nigeria and other ECOWAS member countries should “take appropriate economic and financial stimulus measures in order to be less vulnerable to commodity price fluctuations and improve their economies’ resilience to exogenous shocks,” said the Economic Community of West African States.
The ECOWAS meeting was held in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Saturday.
Nigeria, which depends on oil for roughly 70 percent of government revenues, entered its first recession in a quarter of a century this year, as crude prices slumped.
In the communiqué released after the meeting in Abuja, the West African leaders also called on Gambian leader, Yahya Jammeh, to ensure the president-elect is sworn in on January 18 in conformity with the Gambian constitution.
On Boko Haram, the leaders supported the efforts of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to combat terrorism and agreed to set up a special fund.
That goes without saying I should think.