New ECOWAS President, Birame Diop, has pledged to deepen cooperation with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who recently quit ECOWAS and formed a parallel bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Diop made this known during his formal inauguration as president alongside a new management for the ECOWAS Commission on Monday in Abuja.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Diop was earlier confirmed in July by ECOWAS leaders during the 69th Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government.
According to him, ECOWAS must urgently strengthen internal cohesion and deepen engagement with the breakaway member states, stressing that ECOWAS is at a crossroads.
He said that geographical proximity, shared security and socioeconomic challenges had made such cooperation even more imperative.
Diop noted that ECOWAS and the AES countries share about 5,250 kilometres of borders and would continue to have extensive interactions among their populations.
“We have no other choice, our brothers, our neighbours, our comrades have left us, but geography remains the same,” he said.
“So we have no other choice than to work in a solidary, concerted manner for the interest of both spaces,” he emphasised.
He further identified terrorism, irregular migration, organised transboundary crime and environmental challenges as common threats, which require coordinated responses from both sides.
Speaking earlier, former ECOWAS Commission President, Dr Omar Touray, described the handover as an affirmation of confidence in the regional organisation, stressing that institutions must remain stronger than individuals.
“Leadership is temporary. Institutions endure. The strength of an institution is measured not by the individual who leads it, but by its ability to fulfil its purpose beyond any one tenure,” he said.
He said the preceding management had bequeathed numerous achievements, including progress on major regional infrastructure and connectivity projects such as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline and the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway.
Touray said his achievements included regional electricity interconnection, trade and transport corridors, economic and monetary integration, preparations for the launch of the ECO currency in 2027, and programmes targeting food security, youth, women, education and skills development.
He said the West African Rice Investment Roundtable, for instance, was an initiative that generated an investment pipeline of about 1.54 billion dollars, including 1.47 billion dollars in firm commitments.
He also highlighted the connection of rural communities to national electricity grids under the regional electricity access project and progress on the regional battery storage programme, among others.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, urged the new ECOWAS leadership to prioritise regional integration, financial accountability, peace and security.
According to him, the leadership transition at ECOWAS is an affirmation of continuity in the collective pursuit of regional integration.
“The objective should be an ECOWAS of citizens and not of governments, where artificial borders and narrow national interests no longer frustrate the bloc’s supranational objectives,” he said.
The President stressed that Nigeria remained committed to the progress, growth and stability of ECOWAS but demanded greater financial probity and accountability from the organisation.
“For Nigeria, ECOWAS must continue to justify the huge investments and sacrifices that have been made, not just by the government and people of Nigeria, including the payment of community levy, but also by other member states in the sub-region to sustain the organisation,” he said.
(NAN)
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