President Bola Tinubu received West African leaders on Sunday at the 67th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which was held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja.
President Tinubu’s second tenure as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority concludes at a high-level summit, six months after the previous session in December 2024. He was re-elected on July 7, 2024, after taking office on July 9, 2023.
The 67th Ordinary Session was held at a critical juncture, as the regional bloc continues to reel from the withdrawals of Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Niger Republic, whose military juntas declared their departure from ECOWAS earlier this year.
The summit aims to address internal difficulties, insecurity, democratic backsliding, and economic integration among member states.
Speaking earlier on Saturday at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), which was held at the newly inaugurated Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, the Nigerian president called for a paradigm shift in how the area administers its mineral resources.
Tinubu stated, “The period of warm pit to port must cease. “We must transform our mineral wealth into domestic economic value, jobs, technology, and manufacturing.”
He stressed the importance of value addition and regional manufacturing, pointing out that the current condition of raw resource exports merely limits the region’s potential for long-term growth.
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The President also voiced concern about the low intraregional trade rate among ECOWAS member states, which is now less than 10%.
“Opportunity alone does not ensure transformation. The global economy will not wait for West Africa to get its act together, and neither should we, he cautioned.
Tinubu stated that in order to fully realize its economic potential, the region needs prioritize governmental cooperation, infrastructure investment, and regional supply chains.
Tinubu emphasized West Africa’s youth population as its most important resource, warning that without significant investment in education, technology, and business, the demographic could become a burden.
“Our prosperity is reliant on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data systems. “We must design them together, or they will collapse independently,” he said.
President Tinubu asked ECOWAS leaders to go beyond pronouncements and deliver “concrete deals” that will translate regional blueprints into tangible results.
He stated, “From the Lagos-Abidjan highway and the West African Power Pool to creative industry initiatives, our collaborative projects demonstrate what is possible when we work together.”
“But we must move from declarations to concrete deals — from policy frameworks to practical implementation.”
