ECOWAS appoints new leader amid regional unrest 

ABUJA, Nigeria – West African leaders have elected Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio as the new rotational chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), succeeding Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, during a summit held in Abuja. The transition comes as the bloc grapples with military coups, increasing jihadist violence, and slow regional trade growth.

In his inaugural address, President Bio emphasized four priorities: restoring constitutional order, strengthening regional security cooperation, driving economic integration, and enhancing institutional credibility. He warned, “Our region is at the crossroads… terrorism, political instability… continue to test our resilience,” and urged immediate action to overhaul ECOWAS’s collective security architecture.

According to the AFP news agency, the outgoing chair Tinubu, acknowledged the severity of the bloc’s current challenges and highlighted ongoing efforts to reactivate a rapid-response standby force to address mounting threats. Bio, who previously supported sanctions and interventions in Niger and Sierra Leone, inherits the task of repairing ties with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—three coup-hit states that recently exited ECOWAS—and completing ECOWAS’s five-decade mission of promoting democracy and prosperity. 

“We are still confronting insecurity in the Sahel and coastal states… illicit arms flow and transnational organized crime continue to test the resilience of our nations,” Bio stated.