ECOWAS Urged To Rethink Integration Model, Facilitate Intra-Africa Trade

The Speaker of Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament) has called on West African authorities to have a rethink of the integration model as the ECOWAS Community is set to mark its 50th anniversary while the Parliament marks its 25th anniversary this year.

The Speaker, Hadja Mémounatou Ibrahima, made the call during the opening ceremony of the 2025 First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Abuja, stressing the need to rethink the integration model to enhance citizen engagement and foster hope despite current challenges.

While welcoming representatives from other ECOWAS institutions and advocating for more commitment to regional integration, the Speaker highlighted the Parliament’s recent activities, including joint committee meetings on strategic issues such as the implications of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s withdrawal from ECOWAS, as well as challenges in air transportation.

She also noted the Parliament’s participation in international forums to promote peace and solidarity even as she paid tribute to the founding fathers of ECOWAS for their vision of a united West Africa and emphasised the Parliament’s crucial role as a platform for dialogue and regional integration.

President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks, said the region must be bold in its economic reforms, in order to break free from outdated systems and embrace a truly integrated financial system that reflects the realities of the interconnected economies in West Africa.

He said, “We must strengthen intra -regional trade and prioritize industrialization, without which the common currency alone will not solve our economic challenge. We need a regional economy that not only solves our problem but will leave a legacy for our future generation. We must not only consume but we must also create goods that will compete on the global stage.”

President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, lamented that despite the efforts of the community to bring back Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to the regional bloc, the three countries have made up their minds to quit.

He, however, noted that the ECOWAS will commence a direct discussion with the three countries on the methodologies of future collaboration, adding that the position of the community is to ensure that the withdrawal of the three countries does not have any adverse effect on the population of the countries.

President of the ECOWAS Court, Justice Ricardo Claúdio Monteiro Gonçalves, in his remarks, said the Parliament occupies a strategic position on integration process and pointed out that it has played a pivotal role in amplifying the voice of the people of West Africa, and ensuring that their aspirations, concerns , hopes are not only heard but translated into policies and actions.

The President of the court, who was represented, said: “the Parliament is a living embodiment of our collective belief in representative democracy, participatory governance and the indispensable role of dialogue in holding inclusive societies.”