The ECOWAS Commission has said it was able to save about $12 million in its efforts to cut operational costs of its institutions.
Mr Marcel de Souza said this at the opening of the first Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja on Friday.
De Souza, who was represented by Mr Edward Singhatey, Vice President of the commission, said efficient cost control measures had been implemented to make the organisation more effective and credible.
“The cost cutting measures were put in place by the new management when we took over office in March 2016.
“There was an urgent need for those measures to be put in place because when we assumed the role of management; we found out that the commission was in a precarious financial situation.
“We had to look at the financing that was available vis a vis the projects and activities we were supposed to implement and rationalise them; we had to prioritise them and rationalise our expenditure.
“We took a number of measures by cutting out unnecessary expenditure, streamlining delegations for meetings and cutting out certain activities we felt we could do without in 2016.
“As a result, we saved somewhere between eight to 12 million dollars.”
He added that the measure led to savings in all community institutions and resulted in the resumption of the institutional reform and operations of the Task Force on free movement in line with the vision 2020.
The commission president reiterated that the cut in cost was to implement programmes and projects that will facilitate the ECOWAS Vision 2020.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that in Dec. 2016, Chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, called for a cut in administration costs and a focus on programmes which aim to enhance regional development.
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