Tinubu Hosts ECOWAS Leaders As 67th Summit Opens In Abuja

President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, received West African leaders at the 67th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

The high-level summit, which comes six months after the last session in December 2024, marks the conclusion of President Tinubu’s second term as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, a role he was re-elected to on July 7, 2024, after initially assuming office on July 9, 2023.

The 67th Ordinary Session was convened at a critical time, as the regional bloc continues to reel from the withdrawals of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic, whose military juntas announced their exit from ECOWAS earlier in the year.

Discussions at the summit are expected to address the bloc’s internal challenges, growing insecurity, democratic backsliding, and the need for deeper economic integration among member states.

Speaking earlier on Saturday at the inaugural West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), hosted at the newly inaugurated Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, the Nigerian president called for a paradigm shift in how the region manages its mineral wealth.

Tinubu said, “The era of warm pit to the port must end. We must turn our mineral wealth into domestic economic value, jobs, technology, and manufacturing.”

He emphasised the need for value addition and regional manufacturing, noting that the status quo of raw mineral exports only limits the region’s potential for sustainable growth.

The President also expressed concern over low intraregional trade, which currently sits at less than 10 per cent among ECOWAS member states.

“Opportunity alone does not guarantee transformation. The global economy will not wait for West Africa to get its hands together — nor should we,” he warned.

Tinubu said the region must prioritise policy coordination, infrastructure investment, and regional supply chains to harness its full economic potential.

Highlighting West Africa’s youthful population as its most valuable resource, Tinubu warned that without substantial investment in education, technology, and entrepreneurship, the demographic could become a burden.

“Our prosperity depends on regional supply chains, energy networks, and data frameworks. We must design them together, or they will collapse separately,” he cautioned.

President Tinubu urged ECOWAS leaders to move beyond declarations, urging them to deliver “concrete deals” that will turn regional blueprints into real change.

He said, “From the Lagos to Abidjan highway and the West African Power Pool to creative industry initiatives, our joint projects show what’s possible when we work together.

“But we must move from declarations to concrete deals — from policy frameworks to practical implementation.”

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