Conseil de l’Entente

Headquarters

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Date of creation

29 May 1959

Objectives

The Conseil de l’Entente aims to ensure the peace, security, and stability of its member states; to promote closer and more dynamic political and cultural integration between member states, and to promote subregional economic integration and the well-being of populations. Since 2012, the Conseil de l’Entente has adjusted the implementation of its mission to avoid duplication with ECOWAS and WAEMU.

Timeline

1959	Creation of Conseil de l’Entente
1973	First reform: transformation into an international institution and financial and economic solidarity instrument
2000-2009	Period of lethargy due to crisis in Côte d’Ivoire
2011	Second reform of the organisation to relaunch the activities

Normative framework

1959	Conseil de l’Entente Constitutive Act
2011	Adoption of the additional Charter
2017	Signing of the Agreement establishing the Framework for Consultation, Cooperation, and Partnership between West African Intergovernmental Organisations [Protocole d’accord portant creation du cadre de concertation, de cooperation et de partenariat entre les organisations intergouvernementales de l’Afrique de l’Ouest]

Activities

Political dialogue

Date	Institutions	Agreement
2012	Organisation of La Francophonie	Partnership agreement [Accord de partenariat]
2016	ECOWAS	Signing of a framework agreement [accord cadre de cooperation]
2017	ECOWAS, ACP group (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific)	Signing of a partnership agreement: creation of the Task Force Conseil de l’Entente/ACP/ECOWAS to identify projects for the ACP to finance in the geographical area of the Conseil de l’Entente
2019	ECOWAS	Signing of a specific agreement on governance, political, and security cooperation [memorandum d’entente relative à la cooperation politique et sécuritaire], including sharing data and analysis from the ECOWAS early warning system (ECOWARN) and mediation

Governance and development

Areas	Date	Activities
Election observation mission	Since 2015	Deployment for presidential and legislative elections and referendum poll
Border management	2016, 2017	Annual meeting of ministers in charge of security and border assessment. Launch of a study on the integrated management of border areas to take stock of mechanisms developed by other African organisations (2019-2020)

Peace and Security

Activity	Date	Description
Prevention of violent extremism	May 2018	First workshop in Côte d’Ivoire supported by the Institute for security studies ISS and the Human Security Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland
Prevention of violent extremism	May 2019	Second workshop in Burkina Faso supported by the Institute for Security Studies and the Human Security Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland
Intelligence and information sharing	Approved in 2018 by ministers	Creation of an integrated and centralised intelligence system (communication and information) between the security services of the member states