The ECOWAS Commission, through the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) held a technical session to advance the course of the establishment of an Economic and Social Council of West Africa, ECOWAS-ECOSOC, from 26th of June 2025 in Niger state, Nigeria.
The two-day meeting was attended by officials from the relevant ECOWAS Departments, Directorates and Divisions, including consultants and partners charged with building on the earlier phases of consultations within the context of the wider efforts aimed at consolidating democracy, peace and security while strengthening political stability, security, participatory governance and citizen’s inclusion in the region.
In his opening remarks, the ECOWAS Commission’s Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah charged participants to be mindful of the goal of an ECOWAS-ECOSOC, which is to constitute that bridge of a powerful voice to interface with decision makers and at the same time being a reverse influential organ of citizenry engagement.
He noted that the idea of an ECOSOC for ECOWAS is to mutually reinforce everyone through an institutionalized people’s organ with a facilitating platform that is a voice of the regional community’s farmers, young people’s organisations, non-governmental organizations, women, youth and professional groups, etc.
The Commissioner added that through ECOWAS-ECOSOC as an authentic voice of the people, “we are our own architects, the People’s social wellbeing in order to truly attain a people-centred development’’.
The benefits will be for all as the proposed organ should be insulated from the control of national governments being an authentic voice of the people.” he added.
Following the welcome address by the Ag Head, Mediation and Coordination of Regional Political Affairs Mr. Constant Gnacadja, the facilitator and former Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission Toga Gayewea McIntosh gave an overview of the previous consultative meetings.
There were also goodwill messages from the representatives of ECOWAS Commission’s partners the African Union, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, UNOWAS, as well as the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.
At the meeting, participants will examine, among others, the justification of ECOSOC, membership and eligibility criteria, structure and sustainability.
A firmly established ECOWAS-ECOSOC is seen as movement that can play a crucial role in identifying emerging social and economic trends and issues by strengthening the use of dialogue, advocacy, as well as policy recommendations in the resolution of common challenges of poverty, inequality, political instability, environmental difficulties and conflict.
The technical meeting builds on the foundations laid by the earlier held Internal consultative Meeting of ECOWAS Staff, which took place on the 12th to 13th of December 2023 in Lagos, the regional consultative meeting of civil society organisations that happened on the 22nd and 23rd of February 2024 in Abuja and the experts’ group meeting which held on the 12th and 13th of June 2024, in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
The current Member States of ECOWAS are Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sénégal and Togo.
Considered one of the pillars of the African Economic Community, ECOWAS was set up to foster the ideal of collective self-sufficiency for its member states. As a trading union, it is also meant to create a single, large trading bloc through economic cooperation.
Integrated economic activities as envisaged in the area that has a combined GDP of $734.8 billion, revolve around but are not limited to industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial issues, social as well as cultural matters.
In 2007, ECOWAS Secretariat was transformed into a Commission. The Commission headed by the President, assisted by a Vice President, five Commissioners and the Auditor-General of ECOWAS Institutions, comprising experienced bureaucrats who are providing the leadership in this new orientation.
The ECOWAS budget is essentially financed by revenue collected through the Community tax. The tax was introduced to finance its activities. The rate of the Community levy is set at 0.5% of the CIF value of goods imported from non-ECOWAS countries.
As part of this renewal process, ECOWAS is implementing critical and strategic programmes that will deepen cohesion and progressively eliminate identified barriers to full integration. In this way, the estimated 300 million citizens of the community can ultimately take ownership for the realization of the new vision of moving from an ECOWAS of States to an “ECOWAS of the People: Peace and Prosperity to All by 2050.
GIK/APA