Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso — What new avenues are there to exit the problem of underdevelopment in West Africa? The region will have to provide an appropriate answer to the question as nearly 200 researchers, academicians, representatives of civil society organizations, the private sector, regional and international institutions partook in the opening of a three-day workshop on 3rd October 2010 in Ouagadougou.

The participants, most of whom are African experts of international renown, will brainstorm on seven major themes, namely, the history and development context of Africa, the crisis of development model application since independence, the relationship between growth and development, development and poverty reduction, integration and development, social capital and human resources as well as the different approaches to institutional development. Organized by the ECOWAS Commission in collaboration with the European Union, the Ouagadougou symposium will highlight the importance of research for development.

Participants will be expected to make relevant recommendations on the new approaches to development which will be presented to the President of the Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, on behalf of the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS.

In attendance at the opening ceremony were the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean De Dieu Somda, who chaired the meeting, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Burkina Faso, Mr. Amos Tincani, the ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of macroeconomic policy, Professor Lambert Bamba N'Galadjo and other prominent academics, including Professor Moustapha Kasse, Honorary Dean and Chairman of the Scientific Committee.