His Excellency President Adama Barrow has joined other regional leaders at the Ordinary Session of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government in the capital city of Nigeria, Abuja.
The Summit reviewed the State of the Community, economic cooperation, security and broader sub-regional developments.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu chaired the Summit and reaffirmed Nigeria’s continuous commitment to ECOWAS regional peace and security responses. He took pride in the completion of the ECOWAS military logistics depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone, and called for the ECOWAS Standby Force concept to be translated into reality to serve as a regional counter-terrorism pillar. Response to external security threats in the sub-region require effective collaborations among ECOWAS member states and partners.
President Tinubu commended ECOWAS for implementing fundamental policies such as common external tariff, protocol on free movement of goods, services and people to stimulate development and cooperation. Moreover, he called for an enabling environment to empower private sectors, remove trade barriers and create necessary conditions for investment, entrepreneurship and innovation to flourish.
As President Tinubu concluded his tenure at the 67th ECOWAS Summit, he handed over the Emblem to the newly elected Chair of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government H.E. Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Delivering his inaugural speech, President Bio promised to prioritize four key areas, namely: restoring constitutional order and deepening democracy, revitalizing regional security cooperation, unlocking economic integration and building institutional credibility.
Other speakers included H.E. Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), and H.E. Amb. Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union Commission.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office of The President- Republic of the Gambia.
