After the Meeting of Presidents and Prime, ministers convened in Tripoli, Libya, on February 4, 1998, the Network of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) was formed. All through the 36th Meeting of Ministers of the Council of African Union, hosted in Lomé, Togo, in July 2000, CEN-SAD was formally recognized as a local financial union. Under resolution 56/92, CEN-SAD was granted associate membership at the National Convention. Subsequently, it started cooperating with multiple regional and foreign organizations to coordinate work in the political, ethnic, financial, and social spheres.
Since the Meeting of Leaders of Countries and State’s remarkable discussion in February 2013 in N’Djamena, Chad, whose primary goal was to support the reform and renewal of the Organization, CEN-SAD has authorized a new Pact created from the modification of the original Treaty that founded the Community.
The member States of CEN-SAD are Central African Republic, Benin, Sierra Leone, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Comoros, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Mali, Togo, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, and Tunisia.
Objectives of CEN-SAD
The following goals were outlined in the first agreement, the Treaty Establishing the Community of Sahel-Saharan States:
- Alignment and arrangements of instructional and academic structures at numerous educational tiers.
- It promotes the unification and integration of its participating countries by passing legislation.[1]
- The formation of a detailed trading bloc based on an economical growth strategy.
- It strives to achieve economic unity.
[1] The legislation would ensure the following:
Mutual benefits
The agreement of the nations to grant residents of participating countries the same liberties and perks offered in so every signatory country’s constitution.
Advancement
It guarantees the augmentation and advancement of property, air, and marine transport infrastructure and information technology between many participating Countries through the execution of collaborative ventures.
Promotion of foreign trade
It ensures the promotion of international trade through the development and application of an investment policy for participant states.
Freedom
The agreement guarantees the freedom of mobility of national commodities, goods, and solutions. It also ensures the liberty of residency, labor, possession, and economic activity.
Facilitation
It maintains the free movement of people and money, as well as serves the interests of citizens of Member States.
The amended Treaty, which placed special emphasis on national security and economic development, gave these goals a fresh sense of direction.
CEN-SAD games and sports
The Association of Sahel-Saharan States Sports, which are periodic global athletic and entertainment events, launched in 2009 and involves CEN-SAD signatory nations. Niamey, Niger hosted the inaugural CEN-SAD Games in 2009. The Under-20 games and six categories of artistic competition featured thirteen different nations. In 2011, N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, hosted the second CEN-SAD Games.
Organizational structure
According to article 53, the new Treaty won’t take effect until 15 commitments have been received. Thirteen member nations have approved the Treaty as of this writing. The Sahel-Saharan Bank for Trade and Finance, the Economic, Social, and Cultural Council (ESCC), the Public Central committee, the Council of Representatives and Universal Legislators, the Universal Committee in Control of Sustainability, the Executive Council, and the Convention of Heads of State and Government make up the organizational framework of CEN-SAD under the amended Treaty.
Trade and market integration
The core of CEN goals SAD’s for collaboration between its member Nations is economic unification. The Council of Ministers and National leaders of CEN-SAD propose measures for policy harmonization to speed up regional cooperation and economic growth. As part of the strategic trading bloc, this also comprises trade liberalization initiatives that address non-tariff obstacles and other trade-promoting measures.
