Economic Community of West African States

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established by the Treaty of Lagos, signed on 28 May 1975, with the original aim of promoting economic cooperation and a common market across West Africa. The founding treaty was revised in 1993 (Cotonou) to broaden the bloc's mandate to include political cooperation, conflict prevention, and democratic governance.

ECOWAS currently brings together states in West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and others. Its principal institutions are the Authority of Heads of State and Government (the supreme decision-making body), the Council of Ministers, the ECOWAS Commission (headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria), the Community Parliament (Abuja), and the Community Court of Justice.

Beyond trade liberalization and a customs union, ECOWAS has developed a notable security architecture. The 1999 Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security and the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance allow the bloc to respond to unconstitutional changes of government and humanitarian crises. Its ceasefire monitoring group, ECOMOG, deployed in Liberia from 1990 and later in Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, and Côte d'Ivoire. In January 2017, ECOWAS authorized a military intervention in The Gambia (Operation Restore Democracy) to enforce the election result against Yahya Jammeh.

ECOWAS has also operated a regional free trade area and pursued a long-discussed single currency project (the Eco), repeatedly postponed. Coordination with the parallel UEMOA (the francophone monetary union using the CFA franc) remains a structural challenge.

The bloc faced a significant rupture beginning in 2023–2024, when the military-led governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — following coups and ECOWAS sanctions, particularly after the July 2023 Niger coup — announced their withdrawal and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Their formal departure took effect in January 2025, reducing ECOWAS membership and raising questions about its enforcement credibility.