Alexander Afenyo-Markin is Leader of Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament
A joint “delocalised” meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament will consider reforms and push for uniformity in the telecommunications and information technology space across the sub-region, the spokesperson for Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has said.
According to Mr. Ayariga, the ECOWAS Parliament will soon come up with regulations to harmonise the telecommunications sector across the sub-region.
His announcement preceded a joint meeting of three committees of the ECOWAS Parliament scheduled to take place from July 27–29 at Winneba in the Central Region.
Among the major issues to be considered at the meeting is the varying cost of roaming data and airtime across the sub-region.
“If you are using the internet in Ghana, Benin, or Nigeria, why should the data rate be markedly different in terms of pricing across the sub-region? As you are aware, the objective of ECOWAS is to promote integration, and we have to ensure that things like the telecommunication sector are made better,” said Mr. Ayariga.
“The meeting is to bring in experts to apprise members of the committee so that we can see which reforms need to take place at the sub-region level and make recommendations to Parliament for consideration.”
Parliament’s Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, who is also a member of Ghana’s ECOWAS delegation, said “the ECOWAS dream is very important to pursue, and we want to assure that Ghana is committed to all the protocols of ECOWAS and we are ready to make this meeting a memorable one.”
About 30 MPs are expected to attend the meeting, with Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, billed to open the event.
The ECOWAS Parliament, also known as the Community Parliament, is one of the institutions of ECOWAS.
It is the Assembly of Peoples of the Community, serving as a forum for dialogue, consultation and consensus for representatives of the people of West Africa with the aim of promoting integration.
The Parliament is composed of 115 seats