The 47th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government has opened in Accra with a call on multinational countries to consider debt cancellation for the three West African countries hit by the deadly Ebola disease.

ECOWAS Chairman and President of Ghana, John Mahama who opened the summit said the devastation caused by the Ebola virus which claimed about 11,000 lives has eroded much of the gains in three most hit countries.

He told developed countries that while considering debt cancellation for the three most affected countries, they should assist those countries to rebuild their economies.

President Mahama said the ECOWAS authority is doing everything possible to ensure zero cases of Ebola in the Sub-Region.

He congratulated health workers from the continent who helped in the fight against the virus and called for more consented effort to address some of the challenges in the Sub-Region.

President Mahama also called on West African leaders to ensure that all the bottlenecks that impede on trade are address.

On Youth unemployment President Mahama said that remains one of the biggest challenges yet to be tackled.

He urged the leaders to let that be paramount in their discussions.

Meanwhile, West African Leaders have congratulated the President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat in the country’s general election.

According to the leaders, the maturity showed by Mr Jonathan to accept the outcome of the election is a testimony that democracy in Africa has come to stay and the era of military dictatorship is gradually fading out.

President Mahama who conveyed the praises on behalf of the West African leaders also congratulated Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe on his election victory.

In a related development, a Former Senior Advisor to the UN, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Dua has asked Heads of State and Government attending the ECOWAS Summit in Accra to work seriously towards trade integration in the sub-region.

Speaking to Radio Ghana, Professor Agyemang-Dua called on the leaders to review the Ebola scare and take decisive steps to deal with Boko Haram and religious extremism in the sub-region.