Abuja - Nigeria — The Government of Japan has donated 44, 800 US dollars to ECOWAS in support of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau (ECOMIB). The cheque for the grant was made on 22nd March 2013 at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja by the First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Maruo Shinichi.

While receiving the donation on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, reiterated ECOWAS commitment to the success of ECOMIB. The grant will be used for the electrification of the Level 2 Hospital in Guinea Bissau, which caters for ECOWAS personnel in ECOMIB Headquarters as well as the local people.

Peace and stability will be one of the issues that will dominate the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) to be held in Japan in June this year and attended by Heads of States, ministers and high- level officials of African states and partner countries and organizations.

The official of the Government of Japan used the opportunity to stress the importance of deepening regional integration for effectively promoting African development. Japan recently contributed six million dollars in emergency grant to help address the instability in the Sahel region to the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) and the United Nations Trust Fund, particularly the Mission's land mine-sweeping activities.

Since 2000, Japan has contributed some 5.7 million US dollars to ECOWAS regional projects, including three million US dollars for the ECOWAS Small Arms ControlProgramme (ECOSAP) and some two million US dollars as contribution to regional capacity building of ECOWAS citizens and institutions on the Proliferation and Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana.