ECOWAS Taps Dangote to Chair Business Council for Regional Growth

The Economic Community of West African States named Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, as the first chairperson of its new Business Council to drive private sector investment and economic ties across the region. ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray unveiled the plan at the 95th Ordinary session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in Abuja on Wednesday. The council aims to gather business leaders, governments, and institutions to boost integration and development.

Touray praised Dangote’s deep experience in subregional and continental trade. “We have identified Alhaji Aliko Dangote to be the pioneer Chairperson of the Council,” he said. The body will foster partnerships to mobilise local capital and cut dependence on shaky foreign funds.

The commission seeks to spur intra-regional investments through incentives and opportunities. Touray highlighted Dangote’s ventures as a model for private actors to lead community building. He urged member states to settle debts crippling the West African Power Pool, the bloc’s key electricity market.

Sierra Leone’s Foreign Affairs Minister Timothy Kabba, who chairs the Council of Ministers, called for tighter cooperation on security, economic, and democratic fronts. He marked the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Lagos, ECOWAS’s founding pact, by pushing for more intra-trade, better transport and energy links, and full use of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. Kabba condemned recent coups in Guinea-Bissau and the foiled plot in Benin, vowing zero tolerance for threats to constitutional rule.

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, welcomed delegates and warned of rising instability, including military takeovers and delayed transitions in several states. She stressed defending democracy through inclusive talks and credible handovers. Odumegwu-Ojukwu also spotlighted youth needs, noting that those under 25 make up 65 per cent of the 400 million people in the region.

The two-day meeting reviewed reports on work programmes, budgets, audits, monetary unity, and anti-terror forces. West Africa grapples with coups in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau, plus displacements in Nigeria and elsewhere. ECOWAS leaders pledged unity to shield gains from shocks and build self-reliance.