By Abou Kalley
Fifty years. Half a century. And yet, for millions of West Africans, Ecowas still feels like a distant acronym.
I was reminded of this truth on Friday, 25th July, when I had the honour of attending the 50th Anniversary of Ecowas at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The room was full of diplomats, ambassadors, UN officials, civil society leaders, and scholars. The conversations were rich, honest, sometimes uncomfortable.
The Ambassador of Guinea-Bissau stole the moment. His voice thundered: “If we are one family, why are we still so divided? When will we finally act like brothers and sisters?”
Those questions pierced my heart because they go to the very soul of what Ecowas has become and what it has failed to be.
Achievements we cannot deny
Yes, Ecowas has done some good. It gave us visa-free travel, a trade liberalisation scheme, and a peacekeeping force Ecomog that intervened in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. On the battlefield and in the boardrooms of diplomacy, Ecowas has been a lifeline.
Compared to SADC or Comesa, we have been quicker to respond to conflict. But is that all we want to be remembered for? A bloc that sends soldiers after everything collapses?
The painful truth
For the ordinary West African, Ecowas is invisible. Its grand plans do not translate to food on the table, jobs for the youth, or hope for the next generation.
Economic integration? Stalled. We still trade more with Europe and China than with each other.
Common currency? A mirage.
Good governance? Uneven.
Citizen engagement? Nonexistent.
And when our democracies wobble, Ecowas prefers polite silence over decisive action. This fear to confront internal crises has led us here. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger have walked away. Who is next? Togo? Guinea? Others are racing ahead while E Ecowas treads water, the East African Community is building a true common market. SADC has invested heavily in cross-border infrastructure. We, on the other hand, remain locked in speeches and communiqués.
A rebirth or a burial?
The people spoke in New York. Civil society and scholars did not mince their words: Ecowas must stop being a bloc of presidents and become a union of peoples.
That means:
• Real intra African trade.
• Enforcing constitutional order.
• Engaging youth and civil society.
• Leveraging the AfCFTA to transform markets and minds.
The time is NOW.
At 50, Ecowas stands at a crossroads. The next decade will decide whether we finally become what our founding fathers envisioned a family without borders or remain a club of heads of state issuing statements nobody reads. We have wasted enough time. Fifty years is long enough to talk.
The time to act and to act with courage is NOW.
