Abuja, 25th June 2019. The Eighty-Second Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) opens today, 25th June 2019 in Abuja Nigeria.

The Council will be considering memoranda on the hosting of the Headquarters of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, the award of the 2018 ECOWAS Prize of Excellence, the ECOWAS Human Capital Development Strategy and High-Level dialogue on human capital development in West Africa, among others.

Chair of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ambassador Mustapha L. Suleiman in his welcome address said the Ministers are to discuss the numerous challenges confronting the region and consider how they can confront them as a community.

“Aside from the economic and social development issues affecting our people, we must also stand up to the threats facing our region, particularly peace and security, climate change and youth empowerment,” he said.

Ambassador Suleiman added that as ECOWAS commemorates its 44th anniversary, all these issues require action from Member States.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, in his statement during the opening, highlighted the vision of the Founding Fathers of ECOWAS who saw the need to tackle the challenges facing their countries jointly.

“The Heads of State and Government recognised the need to jointly tackle the challenges facing their countries and pool resources, while respecting their diversity, in order to achieve stability in the region, ensure rapid growth and optimised production, and raise the living standards of the people” he said.

President Brou added that they must all remember the course set by the Founding Fathers and continuously embrace it as a compass that will steer their actions and evaluate the progress made.

Part of the Session of the Council of Ministers was the swearing-in of three members of the Regulatory Council of the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA). Professor Honore Bogler, from Côte d’Ivoire was sworn-in as the Chairman of the Council, while Dr. Haliru Dikko from Nigeria and Aly Ndiaye from Senegal were sworn-in as Council Members Economics and Engineering respectively.