On 30 July 2018, Lomé hosted the joint summit of the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] and ECCAS [Economic Community of Central African States]. 
Why this summit?

I believe that this entirely new initiative of President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé answers simultaneously a real need and
universally shared urgency for: “security, stability and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism;” All his fellow ECOWAS and ECCAS heads, particularly President Ali Bongo-Ondimba, understood that the security challenges constitute a danger for our development efforts. It was important to safeguard the great public community good: Peace.

How did the summit go? What were the high points?Why this summit?

All in all, this joint ECOWAS-ECCAS summit on “security, stability and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism” went very well, to everyone’s great satisfaction. Some high points, including the following ones, marked the summit:

– The adoption of the Lomé Declaration on peace, security, stability and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in the ECOWAS-ECCAS space;

– The commitment to establish and strengthen, at national and regional levels, early warning and rapid crisis-response mechanisms;

– The appeal of the Heads of State and Government for the African Union to seek, together with the United Nations, the ways to lift
the arms embargo imposed on the government of the Central African Republic;

– The reaffirmation of the commitment by all the participating parties of the Agreement of 31 December 2016 to respect the
only framework capable of leading to transparent and peaceful elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

– The establishment of mutual aid and judicial cooperation procedures between the States with a Cooperation Agreement on criminal police matters scheduled to be signed by the designated Ministers before the end of 2018;

– The utter condemnation of the attacks perpetrated by terrorist groups as well as of all kinds of illicit trafficking by terrorist and mercenary groups operating in the Sahel from Southern Libya.