The Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas has urged member states to move away from conflict and regional instability and seek to orient the sub-region towards integration and development.

Speaking at the opening of the 51st session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in Accra on Monday, Dr. Chambas said sufficient effort had not been made by member states to reap the benefits of the regional grouping and its approach to economic development.

He, therefore, urged member states to begin the effort of moving their countries from the current structurally disarticulated national economies and low level of development to a middle-income integrated economy.

The Executive Secretary also called on the development actors and policy makers in the member countries to change their attitudes and approach to the conduct of pubic affairs.

The Council of Ministers meeting is the prelude to the 27th summit of heads of state and government on Friday December 19.

Discussion at the meeting is centered on finding the best ways of accelerating the economic integration of West Africa.

One of such commitments by the regional body is the adoption of a common currency by July 1, 2005.

However, current statistics on the progress toward the convergence of the common currency during the first nine months of 2003 show a considerable deterioration compared to the first half of 2003.

All the states taken together slipped from a score of 65% as at the end of June 2003 to 35% as at the end of September 2003 with respect to meeting the targets under the convergence criteria.

This is the lowest performance since the commencement of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) convergence process in 2000.

The West African Monetary Union created a few years ago by leaders of ECOWAS in an effort to promote trade and commerce among the 16-member states, planned to achieve a single currency by 2004, but had to push it further due to the inability of member states to meet the convergence criteria.

To achieve the WAMZ dream, four primary and six secondary convergence criteria were prescribed for the eligibility for the monetary union. Among them was the reduction of inflation below 5% by member countries.

The chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Ghana's Minister of Regional Cooperation and NEPAD, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku in a welcoming address at the council's meeting, expressed the need for member states to instill financial discipline in the management of their economies in order to meet the convergence criteria which have been agreed upon and which are expected to ensure a stable macro-economy for each member of the zone.

He said it was gratifying to note that Ghana, which achieved only one of the criteria half way through this year, has now been able to achieve three out of the four primary criteria.

He reiterated the call to member states to make the regional integration process a reality rather than just rhetoric.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Nellie Taylor of the Gambia was confirmed at the end of the ceremony as ECOWAS financial controller.