ABUJA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — Senegalese Birame Diop has taken office as president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, pledging to strengthen cooperation with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, three former member states that have formed a parallel bloc, the Confederation of Sahel States (AES).
Speaking at a handover ceremony at the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Monday, Diop said the regional economic bloc was at a crossroads and called for greater internal cohesion and deeper engagement with the three former member states.
Diop identified irregular migration, terrorism, environmental challenges and transboundary crime as common threats facing the two sides. He said shared security and socioeconomic challenges, as well as geographical proximity, made closer cooperation particularly important.
The ECOWAS and AES countries share about 5,250 km of borders, Diop said, stressing the need for extensive interactions among their populations.
A former Senegalese minister of the armed forces and chief of the general staff of the Senegalese armed forces, Diop will serve as president of the ECOWAS Commission for the 2026-2030 term.
His tenure officially began Tuesday. Established in 1975, ECOWAS currently has 12 member states following the formal withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in January 2025.
The Authority of Heads of State and Government, comprising the leaders of ECOWAS member states, is the bloc’s highest decision-making body.
