The Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS has unanimously endorsed the candidature of President John Dramani Mahama for the Chairmanship of the African Union (AU).
This decisive collective backing follows earlier support from the region's Foreign Affairs Ministers, consolidating West Africa's bid to lead the continental body.
The endorsement emerged as a central outcome of the 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority held in Abuja yesterday.
While the summit's agenda was dominated by security crises in the region, including the recent attempted coup in Benin and instability in Guinea-Bissau, the unified political support for President Mahama marks a strategic effort to project regional influence on the broader African stage.
Unified Regional Front
The formal endorsement by the assembled heads of state represents the final and highest level of regional backing.
It confirms the earlier recommendation made by ECOWAS Foreign Ministers during their preparatory meeting in Abuja, creating a seamless and powerful show of unity behind President Mahama's candidacy.
His candidacy is seen as an opportunity to strengthen the linkage between regional and continental governance, particularly on issues of peace, security and economic integration.
The endorsement of President Mahama is perceived not only as a foreign policy objective but also as an effort to reinforce ECOWAS's diplomatic weight and unity of purpose on the continental scene.
The AU Chairmanship rotates annually among Africa’s five regions. The current Chair, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola, assumed office in February 2025 and is serving a one-year term on behalf of Southern Africa.
In endorsing Mr Mahama, the Council highlighted both his personal stature and Ghana’s role as a key ECOWAS member state with significant contributions to the bloc’s regional and international standing.
The ministers also noted that presenting a unified candidate would improve ECOWAS’s prospects of securing influential positions within continental and global bodies.
President Mahama is already the AU’s Champion for various areas, including Reparatory Justice for Africans & People of African Descent; Gender and Development Issues, as well as a champion for African Financial Institutions.
Security, stability
The endorsement was made against the backdrop of a summit primarily focused on pressing security threats.
The heads of state opened their meeting with a strong condemnation of the December 7 attempted coup in Benin and the ongoing political crisis in Guinea-Bissau.
ECOWAS Chair, President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, commended the rapid deployment of the ECOWAS standby force to support Benin's government, a move praised by the AU and the United Nations.
In his address, President Bio described the summit as a critical juncture for the 50-year-old bloc, emphasising that "our collective security and our democratic resilience are under test."
Alongside the political endorsement of President Mahama, leaders agreed on concrete security measures, including upholding the suspension of Guinea-Bissau and mandating a high-level mediation mission to the country.
Reforms
The heads of state reaffirmed a commitment to a comprehensive review of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) to boost intra-regional trade.
In a landmark decision directly impacting citizens, the authority announced that member states would abolish air transport taxes and reduce associated charges by 25 per cent, effective January 1, 2026, to lower travel costs within West Africa.
ECOWAS Commission President, Dr Omar Touray, also announced the operationalisation of the ECOWAS Business Council, to be led by Nigerian industrialist, Aliko Dangote.
The summit occurred amidst a period of regional fracture, with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger remaining absent following their withdrawal from the bloc.
