ECOWAS Needs Our Shared Wisdom, Not Forgetfulness

A dozen Heads of State from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Lungi, Sierra Leone on 19 July. They released the usual bland statement on a single currency, supported the illegal breach of a sister country's sovereignty, and made inaccurate claims about the region’s political situation and democracy.

The West African leaders spoke lightly when they said they are happy with "the steady progress made in democratic consolidation and political governance, as well as the relative stability and resilience of the region, amidst increasing geopolitical and geostrategic pressures." But what satisfaction in democratic consolidation can they mention when, among the twelve countries in ECOWAS, Guinea-Bissau is under direct military rule? The five-year military junta in Guinea, led by General Mamadi Doumbouya, just on 31 May changed from military uniform to civilian clothes, with the people having no real choice. Meanwhile, Presidents Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire and Faure Gnassingbé of Togo are civilian coup plotters who continue to break constitutional term limits in their countries. In fact, Gnassingbé has been in power for twenty-one years since his coup in 2005.

ECOWAS leaders misled when they claimed, "the consolidation of democracy, peace, security, and the maintenance of social cohesion and stability in the region." We who live in West Africa see the opposite.

Interestingly, in the same statement, these leaders who spoke about "the consolidation of democracy, peace, security..." in the region also expressed their "deep concern over the continued deterioration of the security situation across the region, particularly in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, characterized by attacks, kidnapping and disruptive operations by Terrorist Armed Groups, TAGs..."

A clear example of their claimed consolidation of democracy and peace in West Africa is the ongoing situation in Guinea-Bissau. On this, the ECOWAS leaders say they take note of "the efforts underway in Guinea-Bissau to conclude the country’s political transition through a constitutional referendum slated for 30 August 2026 and the holding of general elections scheduled for 6 December 2026."

But the ECOWAS leaders should know that there is no "political transition" in that country. The issue there is that after the 23 November 2025 presidential election, the opposition defeated then-President Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló. Instead of letting president-elect Fernando Dias da Costa take over power, Embaló, three days after the elections, declared a coup against himself and called on the head of his presidential guard, General Horta N’Tam, to take control.

Since the election results were known, various countries and organizations demanded they be announced and the winner sworn in. To prevent this, General M’Tham sent soldiers to seize the ballot papers and the vote tallies and destroy the servers showing the results. Rather than hold the coup plotters accountable and insist the president-elect should be sworn in, ECOWAS leaders stayed quiet. Today, they are talking about a fake "political transition."

In further insulting the intelligence of the West African people, the ECOWAS Heads of State urged the kidnappers in Guinea-Bissau "to ensure transparency and inclusivity in these pivotal processes (and) prioritize inclusivity in all the processes leading to a swift restoration of constitutional order." What "transparency and inclusivity"? What true "restoration of constitutional order" or transparent elections can happen in Guinea-Bissau when, since the 26 November 2025 coup, opposition leaders have been held illegally and threatened?

Former Prime Minister Domingos Simões Pereira, leader of the main opposition African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), was taken by soldiers right after the coup and locked up at the Segunda Esquadra Prison in Bissau. This January, he was moved from prison to house arrest. On Friday, 10 July, just nine days before the ECOWAS Heads of State meeting, Pereira was returned to prison and absurdly charged with planning two attempted coups in 2023 and 2025 against then-President Embaló. Does it make sense for coup plotters to try someone for plotting coups against the same government they overthrew years later? How can ECOWAS leaders believe such men would organize inclusive, free, and fair elections? What is wrong with African leaders?

The ECOWAS leaders also backed the signing of the Inter-Governmental Agreement on the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP), known as the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP). This project will transport natural gas from Nigeria to Morocco, then to Europe.

A major concern in this project is that it goes through the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), better known as Western Sahara, which is a founding member of the African Union (AU), without even consulting the country.

It is unacceptable that ECOWAS Heads of State would support Morocco's military occupation of territories and the coastline of a fellow African country.

Also, the Nigerian delegation to the Lungi ECOWAS meeting, led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, did not seem to fully think about Nigeria's economic interests before backing this project along with other ECOWAS leaders. The Moroccan option is a long 6,000 to 6,900-kilometre pipeline that passes through fourteen countries. In contrast, the alternative Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), designed to pipe gas from Nigeria to Algeria and then to Europe, is 4,128 kilometres long, or about two-thirds of the Moroccan length, and goes through only three countries: Nigeria, Niger, and Algeria. While the estimated cost of the Moroccan project is $25 billion, the Algerian option is $13 billion, or about half the Moroccan cost, and both are meant to transport the same 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually. Also, while Morocco does not have a gas pipeline to Europe, Algeria has the existing Trans-Mediterranean Maghreb-Europe Pipeline.

On a positive note, the ECOWAS leaders discussed a plan for the activation of a Counter-Terrorism Brigade to help fight bandits and terrorists. They also extended talks to normalize relations with the breakaway Sahel states of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali. But they made another bland promise about the ECOWAS single currency, the ECO, which has been in the works for twenty-five years. They say it will launch in 2027.

ECOWAS also reiterated its promise to reduce airfares among its member states. But I wonder why they focus on regional transport without building railways across the region and a coastal transport system, since eleven of the ECOWAS countries are along the coast. In my view, the 51-year-old ECOWAS is sleeping.