Regional Trade Summit to Boost Economic CooperationRegional Trade Summit to Boost Economic Cooperation
Published onJanuary 20, 2025
Source: ECOWAS Trade DirectorateDelegates from across the region gather to sign new trade agreements aimed at fostering economic growth and reducing cross-border tariffs.Heads of state across West Africa are meeting on Saturday to discuss the region's challenges and to call again on three junta-led nations to rescind their decision to quit the regional bloc as well as a plan to review imposed sanctions to reverse the coup in Niger.The summit of the 15-nation regional economic bloc known as ECOWAS in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, comes at a critical time when the 49-year-old bloc's future is threatened as it struggles with possible disintegration and a recent surge in coups fueled by discontent over the performance of elected governments whose citizens barely benefit from mineral-rich resources.Decisions to be made at the summit "must be guided by our commitment to safeguarding the constitutional order, upholding democratic principles, and promoting the social and economic well-being of the citizens," Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, current chairman of ECOWAS, said at the start of the summit.Top on their agenda is the recent decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to leave ECOWAS, or the Economic Community of West African States, over "inhumane sanctions", an unprecedented development since the bloc was established in 1975, growing to become the region's top political and economic authority.