Celebrating 50 Years of ECOWAS: A Jubilee of Unity and Progress?

The ECOWAS Authority has announced grand plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ECOWAS with pomp and pageantry across all member states throughout 2025. The celebration will commence in Ghana and culminate in Togo.
The festivities will span across all member States, with a special focus on Nigeria, home to the ECOWAS headquarters and General Yakubu Gowon, the last living Founding Father.
The Heads of State and Government of fifteen West African countries established the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by signing the ECOWAS Treaty on May 28, 1975, in Lagos, Nigeria. The Treaty of Lagos was signed by the Heads of State and Government of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo. Its mission was to promote economic integration across the region. Cabo Verde joined the Bloc in 1977, bringing its membership to sixteen. However, Mauritania, the only Arabic-speaking member, withdrew in December 2000, reducing the membership to fifteen. Mauritania recently signed a new associate-membership agreement in August 2017.
The 1975 Treaty has since been replaced by the Revised Treaty of 1993, which reformed several aspects of the Bloc. Notably, it strengthened ECOWAS’s stance on human rights by incorporating the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights into its legal system and reinforcing the ECOWAS Court.
Since its creation, ECOWAS’s membership has remained stable at fifteen, despite Mauritania’s exit. However, this stability is now threatened by the potential departure of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso from the Bloc this January.
ECOWAS has faced challenges in achieving its core aim of integration. Despite significant accomplishments, particularly in the area of free movement, ECOWAS citizens often feel disconnected from the Bloc due to its limited relevance in their daily lives.
Hopefully, this celebration—an undoubtedly costly venture—will focus on the people, with a concerted effort to sensitize them to the core values of ECOWAS.
Hopefully, it would usher in an era of renewed cooperation for unity and progress in all areas of its competence.