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Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental
Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Economic Community of West African States |
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Map showing ECOWAS region
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The ECOWAS passport is a common passport document. Currently the passport is issued by 10 of the 15 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for their citizens. These are Senegal, Nigeria, Niger, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Ghana.[1] Created to facilitate intro-regional travel, the passport can be used within the sub-region and is recognized for international travel.
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There are three types of ECOWAS passports:
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 colored 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.[2]
Additional common features include the inscription of the words ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS), French: COMMUNAUTE ECONOMIQUE DES ETATS 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, dependant 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.
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 |