Under the West Africa Regional Indicative Program, as part of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), the increased financial support will be targeted toward cooperation with representatives of regional organisations from West Africa.
European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, co-signed the agreement with President Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and President Cheikhe Hadjibou Soumaré of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), two influential groups in the region.
Regional economic integration and trade will be strengthened, to improve trade and regional integration, and to fortify infrastructure.
Also to be discussed will be sustainable development of natural resources and biodiversity. The areas under the microscope are food security, nutrition alongside environmental protection, biodiversity and climate change.
The EDF is funded directly by the EU member states, and is the main financial conduit for cooperation with African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries.
The regional indicative programs are carried out in tandem with the national indicative programs, agreed on with the aid target nations.
In total there are 16 countries who will receive aid as part of the regional programmes, stretching from some of the smallest countries in the region like Gambia, to Niger, the largest country in the area.
During 2014, figures from the European Commission reveal that west African imports from the EU reached €37 billion, with exports the other way totalling €31.2 billion.
The negative balance of trade of €5.8 billion was less than in 2013, which was minus €8.7 billion.
The west Africa region accounts for 40 percent of the EU’s trade with African, Caribbean, and the Pacific countries.
The Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria account for 80 percent of the exports to the EU from the region. While EU exports to the Ivory Coast and Ghana are usually industrial goods, machinery, vehicles and transport equipment and chemicals.
Other commodities that are imported by the EU are cocoa also from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, as they are two of the biggest cocoa exporters in the world. They also export to the EU bananas, alongside Cape Verde and Senegal, and processed fisheries products.
Nigeria and Ghana are major oil exporters, while other EU import products include mango, pineapple, and, cotton.
