The Committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff (CCDS) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has begun meeting in Abuja, on the political situation in the Republic of Niger.
The CCDS is meeting, following the decision of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government at their Extraordinary Session, held on July 30, 2023, from August 2-4, 2023 in Nigeria.
ECOWAS was established when the ECOWAS Treaty was signed by 15 West African Heads of State and Government on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria.
The ECOWAS region spans an area of 5.2 million square kilometers, with its member States including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo.
Considered one of the pillars of the African Economic Community, ECOWAS was set up to promote cooperation and integration, leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa, to raise the living standards of its peoples, and to maintain and enhance economic stability, foster relations among Member States, and contribute to the progress and development of the African continent.
In 2007, ECOWAS Secretariat was transformed into a Commission headed by a president, assisted by a Vice president, and five commissioners, comprising experienced bureaucrats who are providing the leadership in this new orientation.
As part of this renewal process, ECOWAS is implementing critical and strategic programs that will deepen cohesion and progressively eliminate identified barriers to full integration.
In this way, the estimated 300 million citizens of the community can ultimately take ownership for the realization of the new vision of moving from an ECOWAS of States to an “ECOWAS of the People: Peace and Prosperity to All” by 2050.
