ECOWAS passport

The ECOWAS passport is a common passport document for several countries in West Africa.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

  • Comunidade Económica dos Estados
    da África Ocidental      (Portuguese)
  • Communauté économique des États
    de l'Afrique de l'Ouest      (French)
Map of Africa indicating the ECOWAS member states.

Member states of ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States — have implemented the common design for the passport. It was created to facilitate the intra-regional travel of member states' citizens for periods of a maximum 90 days. The passport can be used within the sub-region and is also recognized for international travel.

Types

There are three types of ECOWAS passports:

Ordinary passport
These passports are issued to citizens and are intended for occasional travel, such as vacations and business trips. They contain 32 pages, and are valid for 5 years.
Official/Service passport
These passports are issued to officials attached to government institutions who have to travel on official business.
Diplomatic passport
Issued to diplomats and consuls for work-related travel, and to their accompanying dependents.

Common design features

Overall format

Cover

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) itself does not issue passports, but the passports issued by its 15 members share certain design features. These include the green coloured cover for ordinary passports, blue colored cover for service passports, and burgundy colored cover for diplomatic passports, as well as common security features and biometrics.[1]

Additional common features include the inscription of the words ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS), French: COMMUNAUTÉ ÉCONOMIQUE DES ÉTATS DE L’AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST (CEDEAO), depending on the language of the issuing state. While the emblem of the ECOWAS community is emblazoned on the cover page of some passports, it is possible to notice some ECOWAS passports of certain countries with the respective state’s emblem on the cover instead. The name of the issuing country is usually the only distinguishing factor between passports issued by the various sovereign nations of the sub-region.

Near the bottom of the passport cover, depending on the official language of the issuing state, the words PASSPORT, French: PASSEPORT are inscribed on ordinary passports, OFFICIAL PASSPORT or SERVICE PASSPORT, French: PASSEPORT DE SERVICE on service passports; and DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT, French: PASSEPORT DIPLOMATIQUE on diplomatic passports.

Identification page

The following information is printed on the identification page, in both English and French:

  1. Type
  2. Code of Issuing State
  3. Passport No.
  4. Surname
  5. Given name(s)
  6. Nationality
  7. Date of birth
  8. Sex
  9. Place of birth
  10. Date of issue
  11. Date of expiry
  12. Authority

Overview of passports issued by the ECOWAS states
ECOWAS state Passport cover Visa requirements Cost Validity Issuing authority Latest version

Benin

30,000 CFA [2]

6 years

Direction de l'Émigration et de l'Immigration (D.E.I.)

2016


Burkina Faso

5 years

2013


Cape Verde

5 years

DEF

2005


Gambia

1000.00 D [3]

5 years

Gambia Immigration Department

2002


Ghana

GH₵50

5 years

Passport Office

2010


Guinea

500,000 GNF

5 years

Police de l’air et des frontières (PAF)

2018


Guinea-Bissau


Côte d'Ivoire

40,000 CFA[4]

5 years

Police de l’air et des frontières (PAF)

2008


Liberia

$50
(in Liberia)
$205
(Overseas) [5]

5 years

Liberian Passport Office

2017


Mali

85 €

5 years

Direction de la Police des Frontière

2016


Niger


Nigeria

₦ 15,000
(Standard, in Nigeria)
$ 94
(Standard, Overseas)
[6]

10 years

2019


Senegal

20,000 CFA

5 years

2007


Sierra Leone

Le 750,000

5 years

2004


Togo

30,000 CFA

5 years

Direction Générale de la Documentation Nationale (DGDN)

2012

See also

References
  1. ECOWAS Passport. rowacacancersl.webs.com.
  2. Direction de l'Émigration et de l'Immigration. "PASSEPORT ORDINAIRE BIOMÉTRIQUE". Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. url=http://www.accessgambia.com/extra/passports-2.html
  4. https://snedai.com/passeport-en-cote-divoire/
  5. http://liberiapassports.com/
  6. https://portal.immigration.gov.ng/?p=passportguidelines
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