According to earlier reports, Tinubu hosted West African leaders at the 67th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday in the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja.
The high-level summit, which takes place six months after the last meeting in December 2024, concluded President Tinubu’s second tenure as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority. He was first elected to the position on July 9, 2023, and was re-elected on July 7, 2024.
With the regional bloc still in shock over the departures of Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Niger Republic, whose military juntas declared their intention to leave ECOWAS earlier this year, the 67th Ordinary Session was called at a crucial moment.
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The bloc’s internal problems, rising insecurity, democratic reversals, and the necessity of greater economic integration among member states are all anticipated topics of discussion during the summit.
Speaking earlier Saturday at the first-ever West Africa Economic Summit (WAES), held at the recently opened Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, the president of Nigeria demanded a change in the way the area handles its mineral resources.
“The period of warm pit to the port must come to an end,” Tinubu stated. Our mineral wealth needs to be converted into industry, jobs, technology, and domestic economic value.
He emphasized the necessity of regional manufacturing and value addition, pointing out that the region’s potential for sustainable growth is only constrained by the current raw material export market.
Additionally, the president voiced concern about the low intraregional trade among ECOWAS member states, which is currently less than 10%.
