Tinubu Hands Over as ECOWAS Elects New Chairman

Prior to this, it was stated that Tinubu hosted West African leaders at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja on Sunday for the 67th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The high-level meeting, which takes place six months after the last meeting in December 2024, concluded President Tinubu’s second tenure as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority. He was first elected to the position on July 9, 2023, and was re-elected on July 7, 2024.

The 67th Ordinary Session was called at a crucial moment after the military juntas of Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Niger Republic declared their departure from ECOWAS earlier this year, leaving the regional bloc in shock.

The summit is anticipated to cover topics such as increased economic integration among member nations, growing insecurity, democratic backsliding, and internal bloc issues.

The president of Nigeria asked for a paradigm change in the way the area handles its mineral wealth during his remarks earlier on Saturday at the first-ever West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), which was held at the recently opened Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre.

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Tinubu declared, “The port’s warm pit era must come to an end.” Our wealth in minerals must be converted into manufacturing, jobs, technology, and domestic economic value.

By pointing out that the current state of raw resource exports merely restricts the region’s potential for sustainable growth, he emphasized the necessity of value addition and localized manufacturing.

Concerns were also raised by the president on the low intraregional commerce among ECOWAS member states, which is currently less than 10%.