Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 177 countries are strengthening their co-operation in various fields especially economic. Economic co-operation at the regional and sub-regional levels has also been an important feature of the economic development policies of African States which face numerous common challenges that can arguably be best dealt with collectively. Thus, there have been established the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA), 202 East African Community(EAC), 203 Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), 204 Southern African Development Community(SADC), 205 and in West Africa the imperative for regional integration has led to the establishment of the ECOWAS with a view, inter alia, to promoting economic co-operation and integration in the sub-region, and thus, collectively deal with the problems of weak performance in macroeconomic policies 206 and marginalisation of the sub-region in the global economy. 3. ECOWAS AND THE INTEGRATION AGENDA OF ITS MEMBER-STATES A. The Formation of the ECOWAS ECOWAS was formed in 1975 with the signing of its Treaty by the Heads of State and Government/Representatives of the Member countries of West Africa. 207 On 24 July, 1993, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of ECOWAS at Cotonou, Benin, adopted a Revised Treaty of the ECOWAS. B. Aims and objectives of the ECOWAS The aims of the Community, as embodied in Article 3 of the Revised Treaty, are “to promote cooperation and integration, leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa in order to raise the living standards of its peoples, and to maintain and enhance economic stability, foster relations among Member States and contribute to the progress and development of the African Continent”. In order to achieve these aims, it is provided that the Community shall, by stages, ensure: 202 See Treaty Establishing the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA), signed on 5 November 1993; entry into force: December 1994. 203 See Treaty Establishing the East African Community, entry into force: July 2000. 204 See the Constitutive Act of the Arab Maghreb Union of 1989. 205 See Treaty Establishing the SADC, adopted on 17 August 1992. In 2008, SADC agreed to establish a free trade zone with the EAC and COMESA including all members of each of the organisations. 206 See S.K.B. Asante(ed.), Regional Cooperation and Integration in West Africa: The Experience of ECOWAS. (Nairobi:ACTS Press, 1991). 207 ECOWAS Member States are: Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, La Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape-Verde. Mauritania was an original member of ECOWAS but has since ceased to be a member. For the ECOWAS Revised Treaty and other relevant documents, see www.ecowas.int