President Akufo-Addo re-appointed ECOWAS Chairman

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been re-appointed for a second term as Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Heads of States of the Authority at its extraordinary session held on February 2, 2021, via Videoconference decided by general consensus that President Akufo-Addo will continue as ECOWAS Chairman for one more year.

An ECOWAS communique issued at the end of the conference said President Akufo-Addo is to oversee the implementation of institutional reforms relating to enhanced financial management and internal control of the Institution.

"To this end, the Authority calls on H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo, President of the Republic of Ghana, with the support of the Ministerial Ad hoc Committee on Institutional Reform, to lead reflection on the issue. A Report on this point will be submitted to the Ordinary Session of the Authority to be held in June 2021. To that effect, a general consensus emerged from the Heads of State and Government that H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo continue for a second term as Chair of the ECOWAS Authority to oversee the implementation of the Reform," the communique stated.

"The Heads of State and Government express sincere appreciation to H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, for his leadership in steering the affairs of the Community".

Present at the summit were 14 ECOWAS Heads of State namely; Roch Marc Christian Kabore, President of Burkina Faso, Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cape Verde, Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, Prof. Alpha Conde, President of the Republic of Guinea, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, and Georges Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia.

The rest are Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, President of the Togolese Republic, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Brigi Rafini, Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger, Moctar Ouane, Prime Minister of Transition of the Republic of Mali, and Aurélien Agbenonci, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin.

The session was also attended by H.E. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, President of ECOWAS Commission.

Extraordinary session

The session chaired by President Akufo-Addo was in preparation for the 34th ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union on the election of the new management team of the African Union Commission.

The communique disclosed that the Heads of State and government took note of the memorandum on the selection of the Chairperson of the African Union for the 2022-2023 period and the proposed mechanism for the nomination of countries in
coming years.

They also took note of the Report of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers on the harmonisation of Member States' applications for positions in international organisations. Lastly, the Heads of State and government took note of the Memorandum on the implementation of the ECOWAS institutional reform.

Background

President Akufo-Addo was first appointed Chair of the 15-member ECOWAS in September 2020 by the 57th Ordinary Session of the Authority.

He replaced President Mahamadou Issoufou of the Republic of Niger, who steered the activity of the Authority for a year.

Established in 1975, ECOWAS is a regional group for promoting economic integration in all fields of activity of the members.

The 15 members of ECOWAS are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

ECOWAS Communique Final Extra Summit 02 Feb 2021