Sierra Leone’s President, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, has been elected the new Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government.
President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria formally handed over the leadership of the regional bloc to President Bio, marking the end of his two-year tenure as ECOWAS chairman.
The development was confirmed in a statement on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy.
“Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio is the new chairman of ECOWAS. He succeeds President Bola Tinubu, who chaired the regional economic bloc for the past two years,” Onanuga said.
Tinubu’s tenure witnessed intense regional challenges, including military coups and growing political instability in several West African nations. Bio now inherits the task of steering the bloc through mounting security threats, democratic setbacks, and rising economic pressures.
Tinubu hosted the first-ever West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) in Abuja.
The two-day event, which began on Friday, was held at the newly renovated Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.
The summit preceded the 67th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, which took place at the State House Conference Centre on Sunday.
According to a press statement issued by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Economic Summit was convened “to deepen regional economic integration,” with “a strong focus on enhancing trade and investment cooperation across the subregion.”
The summit brought together presidents of Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Benin, Togo, and Guinea-Bissau, among other dignitaries, including regional finance, trade, and foreign affairs ministers, as well as top officials from institutions like the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.
“The Economic Summit… is expected to yield concrete outcomes and deliverables to fast-track West Africa’s integration agenda as a critical foundation for sustainable peace, security, and prosperity in the region,” the statement said.
President Tinubu has also extended invitations beyond ECOWAS, reaching out to the Member States of the Alliance of Sahelian States — a bloc that includes Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — as well as Mauritania. The inclusion is seen as a political olive branch in light of strained relations between ECOWAS and the Sahelian alliance, which had earlier pulled out of the ECOWAS bloc after military coups.
“Ahead of the Summit, the President dispatched a team of Special Envoys to deliver formal invitations to Heads of State and Government across the region,” the statement added, naming Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye as members of the delegation.
In his Goodwill Message on Saturday, President Bio emphasised that West Africa’s vast natural resources and youthful population offer immense opportunities for shared prosperity, adding that they must be harnessed through effective integration in the face of rising debt, climate vulnerability, food insecurity, and global uncertainties.
“As leaders facing global economic competition, we must take decisive actions to accelerate regional integration programmes vital for economic growth and shared prosperity,” President Bio said.
