The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is arguably the most successful economic community in the African continent.
It has successfully fostered intra-regional trade, created a free trade area and introduced the ECOWAS passport which gives holders uninhibited access to countries in the community.
ECOMOG, ECOWAS peace keeping force, successfully restored peace in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
Founded on May 28, 1975, ECOWAS celebrated its golden jubilee on April 23, 2025, in Abuja, Nigeria.
Recently, Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, replaced Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as chairman of ECOWAS.
Bio inherits a fragmented regional body with three countries in the Sahel region leaving in protest against sanctions imposed on them by ECOWAS over forceful removal of democratically elected governments.
The protesters, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, have now formed the Alliance of Sahel States and punitively imposed a 0.5 per cent import duty on goods from ECOWAS even as the sanctions have been withdrawn. They also complain that ECOWAS did not help them to fight terrorism. Bio must endeavour to bring them back.
The protest about terrorism by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger goes beyond a sectional plague. States in the coastal areas of ECOWAS are equally plagued by terrorism and internal insurrections.
That is a task that the new ECOWAS chairman will have to confront.
The other issue in Bio’s agenda is the community’s low access to electricity. With a total population of 424.3 million, ECOWAS ranks first globally as the community with the highest number of people without access to electricity.
A total of 220 million people in the community have no access to electricity.
Bio has to ensure the provision of electricity in the sub-region as it will enhance the fight against poverty.
As Tinubu rightly acknowledged in his speech during the golden jubilee of the regional body in April, poverty reigns supreme among citizens of ECOWAS.
The prevalence of extreme poverty in ECOWAS is enhanced by the skewed income distribution system in the community.
Even as most of the countries in ECOWAS have democratically elected leaders, they have failed to set up social security systems for their citizens.
Consequently, millions of unemployed in the regional body have nothing to fall back on.
ECOWAS under Bio should make it mandatory for members to set up social security systems in the fight against poverty. In fact, the fight against poverty should start with member countries of ECOWAS establishing functional social security systems.
Nigeria’s population is about two thirds of ECOWAS and the country is known derisively as the world’s headquarters of poverty.
That automatically makes ECOWAS the community with the highest number of extreme poor people in the world. The fight against poverty must be top in the list of Bio’s priority. That is the best way to restore human dignity in the regional body.
Tinubu in his speech during the regional body’s golden jubilee also highlighted the need for ECOWAS member states to fight the dominance of illiteracy by promoting education among citizens.
Education illumines the mind and opens the way for employment. ECOWAS member states should see education as a way of fighting the prevalence of unemployment in the community. That is something Bio must emphasise during his tenure as chairman of ECOWAS.
The war against terrorism is funded by forces outside the community. Bio as chairman of ECOWAS should seek the assistance of the international community in the fight against the plague.
One thing that has proved to be a Herculean task for ECOWAS is the setting up of a standing military force. Such a body is expected to enhance the fight against terrorism. Bio should explore the possibility of overcoming the obstacle to setting up the force.
There is a deafening silence in ECOWAS about the community’s currency, the eco. Even Tinubu was silent on the matter during his speech in the golden jubilee celebration. Ironically, the establishment of a single currency in the community will not only enhance trade but will also remove the obstacles created by the plethora of currencies in the community.
Two major obstacles have over the years impeded the establishment of the eco.The first is the high inflation rate in the community with some of the countries plagued by high double digit inflation rates. The second one is the tax-to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio which was tenuously set at 15 per cent.
Nigeria, the leading member of the community, has never met that requirement. Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio had for decades lumber along at 6.5 per cent. It has just inched up to 10 per cent.
Bio’s name will be written in gold in ECOWAS hall of fame if he gives the eco currency to ECOWAS.
Blueprint congratulates Bio in his new assignment. We expect him to take ECOWAS to greater heights.