The ECOWAS Commission has launched its Integrated Management System known as ECOLink, an automated administrative and financial regulation system which is consistent with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the attendant best practices.
“In this age of modern technology, it is unacceptable that a model Regional Economic Community like ECOWAS shall still be running manual processes, hence requiring higher overhead costs,” said the President of the Commission, H.E. Kadré Desire Ouédraogo during the launch at the Commission’s Abuja headquarters on Friday 27th February 2015.
The ECOLink project, supported by development partners including the European Union (EU) is a modernized management system with various parameters including automated payment transactions that permits electronic processing of requisition, vetting of documents, quotations from vendors, technical evaluation and Purchase Orders.
The Commissioner of Finance Mrs. Khadi Ramatu Saccoh said the implementation of the accompanying Systems Application and Products (SAP) is tailored to the needs of ECOWAS Institutions and Agencies.
“Going forward, we realized that beyond an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) such as SAP, ECOWAS Community deserved an Integrated Management System which would serve as a platform for its entire management activities whether administration, human resources, travel procurement, finance or programmes/projects related, hence the birth of the ECOLink project”
The ECOLink initiative flows from the decision of the 65th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers held in Abuja in August 2011,
The President of the Commission disclosed that preparations were in top gear for ECOLink Go-Live at other ECOWAS institutions, such as the Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS Parliament, the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and the Inter-Governmental Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), as well as the region’s specialized agencies, such as the Accra-based ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority, (ERERA), the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREE), in Cape Verde, the Dakar-based Gender Development Centre, and the Youth and Sports Development Centre in Burkina Faso.
ECOLink is expected to improve the financial and administrative management of ECOWAS institutions.
The launch was witnessed by senior officials of ECOWAS Institutions including the Commission’s Vice-President Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh, Commissioners, Financial Control Dr. Mohammad Bello and Speaker of the Community Parliament, Deputy President of Nigeria’s Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.