General News of Monday, 13 January 2020Source: Graphic.com.gh6 ECOWAS states elections test case for democracy - Dr Konadu AprakuDr Kofi Konadu AprakuThe Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has observed that democracy and good governance in the region will be put to test this year as Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger hold their national elections to elect heads of states. In his presentation, Dr Apraku said over the years the commission had chalked up significant successes in the area of democracy and good governance. Macroeconomic PerformanceOn the macroeconomic performance of the region, Dr Apraku said the general economic performance in the region continued to improve in 2019, despite the global economic shutdown. Dr Apraku said as of June 2019, the performance of member states on the macroeconomic convergence criteria had improved appreciably. Regional integration He said ECOWAS had undertaken several community initiatives that had good prospects for the enhancement of regional integration and the overall socio-economic development of the region.

Source: GhanaWeb January 13, 2020 11:37 UTC