The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has stepped up preparations for its upcoming Summit of the Future, with Vice President Damtien Tchintchibidja travelling to Lomé on Thursday, February 26, 2026, for high-level talks with Togo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, African Integration and Togolese Abroad, Robert Dussey.
The working visit focused on the organisational arrangements for the Summit of the Future and the closing activities of the year-long celebrations marking ECOWAS’s 50th anniversary, which was formally inaugurated in Accra in April 2025. Both parties reviewed progress on coordination arrangements and discussed ways to strengthen collaboration ahead of the events.
Dussey reaffirmed Togo’s commitment to supporting the Commission in its preparations, describing the Summit of the Future as a critical moment for deepening West African integration. Tchintchibidja, for her part, said she was satisfied with the level of mobilisation shown by Togolese authorities and the constructive spirit of the discussions.
The summit represents a defining moment for the 12-member bloc, which has navigated a turbulent period since Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger formally withdrew from ECOWAS on January 29, 2025. Their exit highlighted mounting dissatisfaction with the bloc and prompted calls for a reassessment of ECOWAS’s approach and relevance in a changing regional landscape. Despite that setback, the Commission has pressed ahead with its reform agenda and anniversary programming.
The golden jubilee, officially inaugurated on April 22, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre in Ghana, kicked off a year-long series of events across member states under the theme “Stronger Together for a Brighter Future.”
The current 12 member states of ECOWAS are Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo.
