A group of fifteen nations in West Africa make up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; sometimes known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese). These nations have a combined size of 5,114,162 km2 (1,974,589 sq mi) and a population of over 387 million as of 2019.
The stated objective of ECOWAS, one of the main regional blocs that make up the whole African Economic Community (AEC), is to help its member states achieve “collective self-sufficiency” by forging a single, sizable trade bloc and fully integrating their economies and trading unions. The Treaty of Lagos, which founded the union, was signed on May 28, 1975, and its stated goal is to advance regional economic integration. On July 24, 1993, in Cotonou, a revised version of the treaty was agreed upon and signed.
In times of political turmoil and instability, member governments of the ECOWAS occasionally dispatch joint military forces to intervene in the bloc’s member nations as a peacekeeping force in the area.
History
Following post-colonial independence throughout the region (especially in the 1960s and 1970s), the ECOWAS was first founded from the former French, British, and Portuguese colonies in the region, as well as independent Liberia. Although it was first established to promote regional economic cooperation, it has now expanded to also promote political and military collaboration.
The Treaty of Lagos, which founded the union, was signed on May 28, 1975, and its stated goal is to advance regional economic integration. On July 24, 1993, in Cotonou, a revised version of the treaty was agreed upon and signed. The stated objective of ECOWAS, one of the main regional blocs that make up the whole African Economic Community (AEC), is to help its member states achieve “collective self-sufficiency” by forging a single, sizable trade bloc and fully integrating their economies and trading unions.
In times of political turmoil and instability, the ECOWAS acts as a force for regional peacekeeping, with member states periodically sending combined military forces to intervene in the bloc’s member nations. These includes operations in recent years in the Ivory Coast (2003), Liberia (2003), Guinea-Bissau (2012), Mali (2013), and The Gambia (2017).
Since the 1990s, the ECOWAS, which covers an area formerly known as the “coup belt,” has made an effort to preserve the region’s transition to democracy against authoritarian attacks. When three of its members experienced military coups d’état in the early 2020s—two in Burkina Faso, two in Mali, one attempt in Niger, and one in Guinea—the group has been criticized for its feeble and inadequate reactions.
The ECOWAS approved its Vision 2020 development strategy in 2011 along with an accompanying Policy on Science and Technology (ECOPOST).
Member States
ECOWAS has 15 member states as of February 2017; eight of these speak French, five speak English, and two speak Portuguese. With the exception of Cape Verde, who joined in 1977, all existing members joined the community as founding members in May 1975.
Arabic-speaking Mauritania, which was one of the organization’s founding members in 1975 and chose to leave in December 2000, is the only former member of ECOWAS. In August 2017, Mauritania formally ratified a new associate membership agreement.
In February 2017, Morocco formally submitted their application to join ECOWAS. At the heads of state conference in June 2017, the application was approved in theory, but Morocco’s application for membership was delayed.
Following Mali’s second military coup in as many months on May 30, 2021, it was expelled from ECOWAS. On September 8, 2021, Guinea was also put on hold following a military coup in that nation. On September 16, sanctions were imposed on both countries. In response to sanctions imposed for delaying elections for four years, Mali declared its decision to close its borders and recall numerous ambassadors with ECOWAS on January 10, 2022. Following a military coup on January 28, 2022, Burkina Faso was expelled from ECOWAS.
The data below for population, nominal GDP, and GDP in terms of purchasing power parity is derived from 2015 World Bank estimates, which were released in December 2016. The United Nations Statistics Division’s 2012 report is where the area data came from.
Structure
The ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), formerly known as the Fund for Cooperation until it was renamed in 2001, are the two operative entities that carry out policies for the organization.
ECOWAS also consists of the following organizations: ECOWAS Commission, Community Court of Justice, Community Parliament, West African Health Organization (WAHO), Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in West Africa (GIABA), and ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
Two sub-regional blocks are part of ECOWAS:
- The West African Economic and Monetary Union, commonly known as UEMOA in French, is an association of eight ECOWAS member states, the majority of which speak French, that share a customs union and a currency union. Members of the UEMOA are primarily ex-territories of French West Africa, and the organization was founded in 1994 to balance off the dominance of the region’s English-speaking economy (such as Nigeria and Ghana). They all utilize the CFA franc, which is a tied currency to the euro.
- Established in 2000, the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) consists of six ECOWAS nations, the majority of which speak English, that are working to adopt the eco as their own shared currency.
- The three co-official languages of the ECOWAS are French, English, and Portuguese.