ECOWAS
Economic Community of West African States
Updated 7 November 2026
West Africa's regional community, long the continent's most ambitious on free movement — reduced to eleven after the 2025 withdrawal of the Sahel junta states.
Key facts
- Founded
- 1975
- Headquarters
- Abuja, Nigeria
- Members
- 12 states
- Chair
- Senegal
- Commission President
- Birame Diopsince September 2026
- Last summit
- 19 July 2026Freetown, Sierra Leone
- The UAE
- Not a member
- UAE trade with members (2025)
- $25 billion