West Africa, a collective territory, was once a collection of states formed from colonial experiences and administrations. The region has over a thousand local languages, including cross-border native tongues, and over 300 million people. The region’s cultural, linguistic, and ecological diversity presents both opportunities and challenges for the integration of the region. The first attempt towards integration can be traced back to 1945, when the CFA franc was created bringing together all francophone countries into acknowledging a single currency. The Liberian President William Tubman, then proposed the creation of an economic union for West Africa, citing the necessity of such union. The Proposal resulted into the signing of an agreement by Cote d’Ivore, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, in 1965. However, the second attempt towards achieving the desired regional integration stems from a proposal for the establishment of a Union of West African States, which emerged in 1972. The Proposal, which was promoted by the Nigerian Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, and Togolese counterpart Gnassingbe Eyadema, later led to the emergence of the Treaty of Lagos in 1975, which resulted into the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOWAS is a regional organization, that was established with the aim of promoting economic growth, peace, and stability through a fostering cooperation among its member states. Its formation encompasses a broad scope of significance, which portrays the organization as a vital force for promoting regional integration and good governance for West Africa.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) began with 15 founding members composed of five Anglophone countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia), nine Francophone countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Senegal, Mauritania), one Lusphone countries (Guinea-Bissau). In 1977, Cabo Verde, another lusophone country, joined the body, making it a 16-member organisation. Mauritania later pulled out from ECOWAS after an official notification of its membership withdrawal was raised in December 1999, citing the country’s disagreement with the organisation’s decision about a common currency. The departure was granted and finalised a year later – per ECOWAS guidelines – in December 2000. Surprisingly, Morocco, a northern African country, applied for ECOWAS membership in February 2017, after its successful return to the African Union, hoping to expand trade relations in the Sub Saharan Africa. But the application was stalled due to strong objections from West African civil society organizations and economic interests groups, as ECOWAS indefinitely postponed its final decision on Morocco’s application.
Despite the bloc’s call for stronger integration among member states, the French-speaking Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger announced their exit from ECOWAS in January 2024, which took effect in January 2025. The decision of the three countries to leave the bloc comes as a retaliation over ECOWAS’s sanctions imposed on them, inadequate support in countering insurgency, and their strong belief that the bloc is being influenced by foreign powers. The exit now leaves ECOWAS with 12 members, while the three countries formed a confederation known as the Alliance for Sahel States (AES). Nevertheless, ECOWAS still reaffirms its will and readiness to accept the trio back, should they choose to rejoin the bloc.
Over the past 50 years, ECOWAS has portrayed itself as one of the best performing regional economic communities in Africa. According to the African Integration Report in 2021, ECOWAS was rated 100% vis-a-vis free movement of persons, scored above 75% on trade integration, and was also rated above 60% on environmental integration. Currently representing just 1.8% of world greenhouse gas (GHG)1 emissions, ECOWAS countries’ contribution to global warming is minimal. However, the African continent is at the centre of the climate change challenges of this first half of the 21st century. According to the most alarming scenarios, West Africa will experience, by 2060, a temperature increase of +2.3 °C, or a warming of +0.6 °C per decade. Precipitation will be more erratic and will lead to an increase in the frequency and intensity of the extreme weather conditions already being experienced in our region: floods, increased variability of rainfall, coastal and soil erosion in river basins, extremely long pockets of drought among other corollaries, with dramatic human and economic consequences for all economic sectors and for the most vulnerable sections of the population, particularly, women, young people and the elderly. Faced with the seriousness of the impacts to come, “Acting Together”, within the framework of regional solidarity, is an absolute necessity to allow our region to reduce its vulnerability and to face, collectively, the risks induced by climate change, which, by definition, know no borders.
ECOWAS’s Journey: triumphs achieved, challenges ahead
ECOWAS’s economic and integration policies were established with the promise of improving the lives of West African citizens, yet the reality on the ground suggests a mixed outcome. While the region has made progress in facilitating trade and economic cooperation, the tangible benefits for ordinary citizens remain limited. In terms of integration, ECOWAS has advanced significantly. The ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), which was established in 1979, aims to promote free trade by eliminating customs taxes on commodities within the sub region. In order to fortify its common market, the Community went one step further in 2013 by enacting a Common External Tariff (CET). In 1979, the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, the Right of Residence and Establishment (1979) was signed and adopted. This allowed people from different groups in the sub region to move around easily and stay in a member state for up to 90 days. The ECOWAS Travel Certificate, which was launched in the 2000s, also complements this, as it the passport serves as a legitimate travel document that can only be used in the sub region.
Another notable achievement which ECOWAS earned since the past 50 years is its track record of peacekeeping missions. Since the late 1970s, ECOWAS has adopted three major protocols pertaining to peace and security, peacekeeping, and conflict prevention and resolution in the sub-region: the Protocol on Non-Aggression (1978), the Protocol Relating to Mutual Assistance on Defence (1981), and the Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Security (1999). The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), the military arm of ECOWAS, was formed in 1990 to regularly intervene in conflicts within the region. For instance, Liberian rebel forces of the National Patriotic front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, crossed into Liberia from Cote d`Ivoire intent upon overthrowing the regime of President Samuel Doe. As the fighting escalated, and the international community displayed marginal interest, ECOWAS initiated a regional response to the crisis, establishing a Standing Mediation Committee (SMC) to try and encourage a diplomatic solution. On August 7th 1990, a lack of progress on the diplomatic front prompted the SMC to begin the insertion into Liberia of a military monitoring group (ECOMOG). ECOMOG was deployed in order to overawe the warring factions, and to oversee the implementation of a cease-fire, the disarmament of the warring factions, the cessation of arms imports and the release of prisoners.
However, overcoming the rising insurgency, instability and insecurity still remains a big challenge for ECOWAS, because its member states have been unable to eradicate insurgency and terrorism in the sub-region. Since the 2010s, Islamic militant groups such as Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have been active in Lake Chad, whereas Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) primarily operate in the Liptako-Gorma region that connects the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. According to the Global Terrorism Index (2024), the epicentre of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to the Sahel region of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with Burkina Faso being the most heavily hit. Piracy is a major issue in terms of maritime security for ECOWAS countries. The Gulf of Guinea extends from Senegal in West Africa to Angola in Central Africa. This river, which is vital for ships transporting oil to American and European markets, has become a hotbed for piracy. To combat piracy, violent robbery of ships, and illegal maritime operations in West and Central Africa, ECOWAS, ECCAS, and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) signed the Yaoundé Code of Conduct (2013). Despite commendable efforts in sub-regional maritime strategy, surveillance, information sharing, and coordination, as well as water patrolling, maritime exercises, and personnel training in collaboration with the United States (US), France, India, the EU, and others, piracy, armed robbery at sea, kidnapping of crew members for ransom, oil theft, and illegal fishing remain unabated in the ECOWAS maritime domain.
On governance, The Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001) demonstrates ECOWAS’ desire to defend liberal democracy and good governance in the subregion, where Ghana is often seen as a beacon of democracy. However, some incumbent presidents in the sub-region and sub-Saharan Africa in general have challenged democratic norms in order to remain in power beyond the presidential two-term limit, as seen in some Western democracies. Democratic backsliding is rapidly becoming an unpopular trend in West Africa, prompting criticism of ECOWAS for failing to prevent coups and address poor governance in the sub-region. Over the last five years, coups have been carried out in three Francophone countries in the Sahel region, namely; Mali (18 August 2020 and 24 May 2021), Burkina Faso (24 January 2022 and 30 September 2022), and Niger (26 July 2023).
The New Frontier: ECOWAS and the Power of Collective Progress
In 2021, all member states of the bloc adopted the “ECOWAS Vision 2050″ in Abuja, carrying the motto “The ECOWAS of Peoples: Peace and Prosperity for All.” The Vision 2050 is based on five pillars: A secure, stable, and peaceful region; a region endowed with strong institutions and that complies with the rule of law and fundamental freedoms; a fully integrated and prosperous region; a region mobilized for transformation and inclusive and sustainable development; a community of peoples fully inclusive of women, youth, and children. However, the successful implementation of the plan will not only require awareness creation and knowledge of ECOWAS and its vision but also that the main domestic and foreign stakeholders understand it, own it, and commit and contribute to its achievement. Among the future prospects on which ECOWAS has made visible thumbprints is the interregional infrastructural development projects it sets to embark on. The 1,028-kilometer Abidjan-Lagos Highway Corridor project, which is scheduled to begin in 2026, will connect Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. When completed, this transnational road network project will undoubtedly help the five aforementioned countries’ economic integration within the Community. The execution of such projects will not only develop the infrastructural status of the region but also facilitate and promote interregional trade.
A major challenge to watch out for in the near future is the adoption of a unified currency, which the bloc intends to implement. Already, it is a known fact that ECOWAS has since expressed a desire for a unified currency for the region, using the euro as an example. However, getting the currency off the ground has been a Herculean effort. Thus, the introduction of the single currency was delayed to 2005, 2010, 2014, and 2020, but it still couldn’t be introduced due to member states’ failure to achieve convergence standards for inflation, budget deficit, external reserves, debt-to-GDP ratio, and so on. The new date set for the introduction of the currency is 2027, but there are concerns over its impossibility due to the risk of economic disintegration facing the bloc as a result of AES States withdrawal. Nevertheless, ECOWAS is undoubtedly bound to make progress in the next years, despite the fact that the multiplicity of obstacles confronting it has eclipsed its achievements. Beyond its aspirational Vision 2050, it must prepare for political, economic, security, health, cyber, and technical problems. It must also adopt a reforming mindset, increase institutional capacity, and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with member states.