At the West African Economic Summit in Abuja over the weekend (on June 20 & 21), Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who was also chairing ECOWAS, issued a clarion call for deeper regional integration, urging leaders to harmonise economic policies, attract aggressive investment, and dismantle trade barriers to unlock the region’s vast economic potential. Decrying intra-regional trade levels below 10% as a missed opportunity, Tinubu warned against the perils of isolationism and stressed the urgency of collaboration to remain competitive in a fast-moving global economy. He highlighted the youth as West Africa’s greatest asset, calling for sustained investment in education, innovation, and digital infrastructure to prevent this demographic dividend from becoming a liability.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar reinforced this vision, advocating for open markets, private-sector partnerships, and a pragmatic governance model that places innovation at the heart of regional transformation. He described the summit as a turning point for West Africa’s economic destiny, where visionary rhetoric must give way to concrete results delivered by the ingenuity of the region’s people. The summit convened ahead of the ECOWAS 67th Ordinary Session, gathering heads of state and key ministers from across the bloc to align efforts on trade, finance, and infrastructure, in partnership with institutions like WAMA, WAMI, EBID, UEMOA, and the AfCFTA Secretariat.
Liberian President Joseph Boakai used the occasion to call for diplomatic openness toward member states that have withdrawn from ECOWAS, including Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Emphasising unity over division, Boakai urged regional leaders to maintain dialogue and reconciliation efforts, warning that fractured relations threaten the integrity of the regional bloc. His plea echoed broader sentiments at the summit—an insistence that political rifts must not derail the economic transformation agenda. Leaders from Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Benin, Togo, and Guinea-Bissau also participated, underscoring a shared commitment to reposition West Africa as a cohesive, economically resilient bloc.