ECOWAS TO GET NEW HQ FROM CHINA

ECOWAS to receive gift from China.

The 15- member regional group, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), due to increasing number of staff, operates from three (3) separate building in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

China, continuing its strategy of diplomacy through construction, is gifting ECOWAS a new headquarters in Abuja which will cost US$31.6m.

Jean-Claude Brou, president of the ECOWAS and China’s ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian, signed an MOU on March 14. The design work for the complex is already ongoing.

The complex will include offices and conference facilities, and China will maintain the building for three years after completion.

Mr. Brou while thanking the Chinese government for the gift said it is a mark of goodwill from the Asian country to the commission. He also said the commission is looking to further foster ECOWAS-China cooperation.

The duration for the completion of the building have not been announced yet. But this complex will definitely help to accommodate the increasing number of staff.

China in 2012 also gave a new headquarters to the African Union, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. These are only but a few of the numerous gifts china have given the the African continent.