The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) remained a central institution for regional integration in West Africa throughout 2024. Established in 1975, ECOWAS seeks to promote economic cooperation, political stability, peace, security and the free movement of people and goods among its member states. Its integration agenda is designed to transform West Africa into a more interconnected region capable of addressing shared challenges and competing effectively in the global economy.
The year 2024 was particularly significant for the organisation. While ECOWAS pursued economic integration, infrastructure development, trade facilitation and regional security cooperation, it also faced considerable political challenges following the withdrawal announcements of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. These developments tested the organisation’s unity and required renewed diplomatic efforts to preserve regional cooperation.
Despite these difficulties, ECOWAS continued to advance initiatives intended to strengthen economic connectivity, institutional cooperation and the welfare of West African citizens.
One of ECOWAS’s principal priorities in 2024 was strengthening economic integration by reducing barriers to trade and creating a more unified regional market. The organisation continued to promote the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), which facilitates preferential trade in qualifying products originating within the community.
In May 2024, senior trade officials from member states met in Abuja to review and validate regional trade policy instruments intended to improve economic integration and trade facilitation. The discussions also considered West Africa’s participation in the World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference.
A significant development came in November 2024, when ECOWAS launched its electronic Certificate of Origin in Lagos, Nigeria. The digital initiative was designed to simplify the certification of qualifying regional products, reduce administrative obstacles and facilitate cross-border trade. It represented an important step towards modernising trade procedures and improving the movement of goods across West African borders.
These initiatives demonstrated ECOWAS’s commitment to making regional integration more practical for businesses, traders and consumers. Nevertheless, persistent checkpoints, transport costs, inconsistent implementation of trade rules and administrative delays continued to constrain the full benefits of a regional market.
ECOWAS also worked to align West African economic integration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to establish a single continental market for goods and services.
From 17 to 19 September 2024, the ECOWAS Commission convened the second meeting of its Regional Committee on AfCFTA implementation in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The meeting reviewed progress across the region, encouraged cooperation among member states and considered capacity-building and resource mobilisation for implementation.
This engagement was important because West African countries could benefit from stronger access to continental markets, larger investment opportunities and expanded value chains. By coordinating implementation, ECOWAS sought to ensure that the region participated more effectively in Africa-wide trade.
However, the benefits depended on individual countries adopting the necessary policies, improving customs procedures and strengthening the productive capacity of local industries.
Free movement remains one of ECOWAS’s most important achievements and a foundation of its regional integration agenda. The organisation continued efforts in 2024 to facilitate travel, residence, establishment and commercial activity across member states.
In February 2024, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray highlighted the deployment of biometric identity cards for intra-community travel in six member states, alongside the ECOWAS passport and the phased construction of joint border posts supported by the European Union. These measures were intended to improve border processing and facilitate regional mobility.
The continued existence of illegal checkpoints, lengthy border procedures and inconsistent application of regional protocols nevertheless remained major obstacles. At its December 2024 summit, ECOWAS called for stronger implementation of free-movement and trade-facilitation rules and directed the establishment of a regional observatory to monitor barriers affecting persons, trade and transport.
The underlying objective was to advance a West Africa where citizens could travel, work and conduct business with fewer unnecessary restrictions.
Monetary integration remained another major component of ECOWAS’s long-term development strategy. The proposed ECO single currency is intended to facilitate trade, reduce currency-conversion costs and strengthen economic cooperation across the region.
In July 2024, the West African Monetary Agency convened meetings in Dakar, Senegal, involving monetary and economic officials, followed by a meeting of central bank governors. Participants reviewed progress towards monetary convergence and emphasised the need for member states to meet the established criteria for introducing the ECO.
These discussions demonstrated that the single-currency project remained on the regional agenda. However, differences in inflation, fiscal deficits, public debt and broader economic conditions continued to complicate the process.
Consequently, 2024 was characterised by continued technical discussions and coordination rather than the introduction of a common currency. Achieving monetary union would require sustained macroeconomic discipline, institutional cooperation and agreement on implementation arrangements.
Regional infrastructure is essential to connecting markets and reducing the cost of doing business. ECOWAS has therefore continued to support cooperation in electricity, transport and other strategic sectors.
The West African Power Pool provides a framework for cross-border electricity cooperation, with the broader objective of improving power exchanges and strengthening the regional electricity market. Cooperation in this area can help countries manage differences in electricity supply and demand and support economic activity.
Transport infrastructure is equally important. Roads, railways, ports and border facilities can reduce the time and cost involved in moving goods between member states.
During 2024, ECOWAS’s wider integration agenda continued to emphasise regional connectivity and the removal of barriers to commerce. However, the full benefits depended on sustained financing, effective project implementation and cooperation among national governments and development partners.
Regional integration cannot succeed through agreements alone; it requires infrastructure that connects communities and enables businesses to operate across borders.
Peace and security remained central to ECOWAS’s mandate because instability undermines investment, disrupts trade and threatens the movement of people.
The organisation continued to confront security challenges, including terrorism, violent extremism and political instability in parts of the Sahel. These threats required cooperation among governments, security institutions and regional partners.
Political tensions became especially prominent following the decisions of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to announce their withdrawal from ECOWAS in January 2024.
On 24 February 2024, ECOWAS leaders held an extraordinary summit in Abuja to consider the implications of the three countries’ decisions. The Authority of Heads of State and Government urged them to reconsider their withdrawal and encouraged dialogue and negotiation to address their concerns.
This crisis exposed the difficulty of reconciling constitutional governance, political disagreements and regional solidarity. It also raised concerns about the future of cooperation on security, trade and free movement.
At the end of 2024, the organisation continued diplomatic engagement and sought to preserve channels for dialogue. The challenge was to maintain regional cooperation while addressing the political and security concerns driving divisions within West Africa.
The 66th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, held in Abuja on 15 December 2024, was an important moment in determining the organisation’s direction.
The leaders addressed regional integration, security, economic cooperation and the withdrawal notifications of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. They agreed to leave the door open for dialogue with the three countries and recognised the wider implications of their decisions for regional cooperation.
This approach reflected an effort to prevent political disagreements from permanently undermining cooperation among neighbouring countries. The summit also underscored the importance of removing obstacles to free movement and accelerating implementation of the AfCFTA.
The decisions demonstrated that ECOWAS’s future depended not only on economic policies but also on diplomacy, trust and the willingness of member states to pursue shared interests.
Despite progress in trade facilitation, digitalisation, monetary cooperation and regional dialogue, ECOWAS faced several persistent challenges throughout 2024.
These included political divisions, insecurity, uneven economic development, infrastructure deficits, illegal checkpoints and inconsistent implementation of community protocols. The withdrawal announcements by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger further complicated efforts to maintain a unified regional framework.
Going forward, ECOWAS needs to strengthen dialogue with member states, improve implementation of existing agreements, invest in regional infrastructure and ensure that integration delivers practical benefits to citizens.
The success of regional integration should be measured not only by the number of agreements adopted but also by whether traders can move goods more easily, citizens can cross borders safely, businesses can access larger markets and communities enjoy greater economic opportunities.
Throughout 2024, ECOWAS pursued regional integration through trade facilitation, AfCFTA implementation, free movement initiatives, monetary cooperation, infrastructure development and diplomatic engagement.
The launch of the electronic Certificate of Origin, continued work on the proposed ECO currency and efforts to strengthen regional mobility illustrated the organisation’s determination to deepen economic cooperation. At the same time, the political crisis involving Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger revealed serious challenges to regional unity.
Ultimately, ECOWAS’s effectiveness will depend on its ability to translate regional agreements into measurable improvements in people’s lives. A more integrated West Africa requires open and efficient borders, stronger institutions, secure communities, interconnected infrastructure and sustained political commitment.
The events of 2024 demonstrated both the importance of regional integration and the considerable work still required to realise the vision of a peaceful, prosperous and economically interconnected West Africa.
