The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to establish a regional air carrier, called ECOAIR, it announced Saturday, in the wake of repeated poor performance by local airlines, and the financial collapse of several national carriers, according to dpa. "It has become increasingly difficult to fly from one country to the other within the sub-region, the airline companies are so erratic in their schedule, so we are meeting in order to operationalise ECOAIR" Victor Gbeho, resident of the ECOWAS Commission said. Gbehho said the proposed West African Airlines would be a private sector driven venture. "I met with stakeholders in the sector and their response was encouraging, through partnership they can get financing through larger capitalization and will be able to access, and tap into resources of member nations", he added. Following a grant of 63.8 million euros from the European Union, the bloc has also began implementing a transport and transit facilitation programme - which includes the construction of five joint border-posts along major corridors in the region. This development is the first major step towards the elimination of some borders within the ECOWAS bloc. In a bid to further promote trade, the bloc consisting of 15 member state is expected to implement the single currency policy by 2020. ECOWAS currently consists of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
