Category: Diplomatic Channel

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has opened its Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC) office in Abuja.

The technical opening of the centre was attended by members of the West African Health Organisation, two ministers from ECOWAS and development partners.

The centre will work with ECOWAS to promote health security in the region and will begin operation with 11 staff recruited from across the region.

In his welcome speech at the event, the Deputy Director-General of West Africa Health Organisation, Laurent Assogba, thanked the Nigerian government for accepting to set up and host the centre.

Mr. Assogba said the centre became necessary to help the region combat diseases from spreading across its countries.

He said regional leaders saw the need to collaborate in disease control especially after the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and 2015, which quickly spread across the region.

In his words:

“The 47th session of the authority of Head of State and Government of ECOWAS held in 2015 in Ghana approved the establishment of RCSDC with headquarters in Nigeria. The agency is setup to strengthen member states’ health systems and enhance the region’s capacity for epidemics prevention, diagnosis and control.”

Mr. Assogba added that the staff were recruited by ECOWAS after commissioners of the group gave their approval.

Togo’s Minister of Health, who is also the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers, Moustafa Mijiyawa, said the establishment of the centre demonstrated the willingness of the authorities to fight epidemics that have been ravaging the region.

Mr. Mijiyawa said the region needs to collaborate in the fight against epidemics and public diseases because these have the ability to cross borders, especially due to the porous borders in West Africa.

According to Mr. Mijiyawa:

“Going by our recent experiences in the fight against epidemics especially in the Ebola crisis, it has become sine qua non to take up the mission of disease coordination, surveillance, response, diagnosis and prevention and control across the region.

RCSDC is set up because we know prevention is better than cure. We know that outbreaks of diseases can have adverse effect on the economic, social and pathological environment.”

The Nigerian Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, said Nigeria was honoured to be entrusted by sister countries to host the centre.

He said Nigeria gladly accepted the task due to the role it played during the fight against Ebola in Guinea and Liberia.

Mr. Ehanire said setting up the centre in Nigeria will assist not just Nigeria, but other West African countries to have more coordination and responses to disease control.

The Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Lehmann, has stated that trade transactions between Australia and Nigeria in 2016 and 2017 were worth about AUD $343 million, approximately about ₦100 billion.

Mr. Paul Lehmann said:

“We estimate that Australia’s total two-way trade in goods and services with Nigeria was worth about AUD $343 million in 2016 and 2017, which is about ₦100 billion.

Many more Nigerians are choosing to study in Australia, which is becoming a key part of our trade relationship. A variety of Australian mining companies are also active in Nigeria.

As the Nigerian mining sector develops, I expect to see even more interest from Australian firms to help to grow the mining industry here, particularly in solid minerals.

I also see plenty of potential for trade and cooperation in our agricultural sectors, as well as different foods and beverages.’’

Mr. Lehmann commended the Nigerian Government’s effort at improving the country’s business and investment environment, adding that more Australian companies would want to do business in Nigeria when the environment becomes right.

According to him, beyond mining and agriculture, Australian firms have strong reputations in ICT, logistics and transport, health and financial services, among many other sectors.

Australia is a country and continent surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans. Its major cities – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide – are coastal. Its capital, Canberra, is inland and its largest urban area is Sydney.

Australia officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands.

It is the largest country in Oceania and the world’s sixth-largest country by total area.

The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the North; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the North-East; and New Zealand to the South-East.