The 6th meeting of the Coordination and Collaboration Platform of Regional Economic Communities concluded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, officially handing over leadership to H.E. Workneh Gebeheyu, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.
The meeting brought together the Presidents and Chief Executives of all the Regional Economic Communities, including ECOWAS, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the Economic Community of Central African States, the East African Community, IGAD, and the Southern African Development Community.
A statement from ECOWAS on Monday detailed the key topics discussed during the session, which was organized by the ECOWAS External Relations Directorate. These included the status of implementation of recommendations from the RECs’ meeting in July 2024 in Accra, Ghana, the adoption of a document outlining the RECs’ position in their cooperation with the African Union, resource mobilization efforts, and the leadership handover to the new President of the Inter-RECs platform.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Touray reviewed ECOWAS’ achievements while leading the Inter-RECs platform. He highlighted significant progress in promoting regional integration, cooperation, and development across member states since February 2024, emphasizing the platform’s dedication to addressing regional challenges and advancing the shared vision of prosperity and peace for all African nations.
Dr. Touray also pointed to the completion and signing of the rules of procedure during the 6th biannual coordination meeting in Accra, as well as the launch of the Inter-REC website to enhance the platform’s visibility and activities.
During ECOWAS’ leadership, the platform deepened inter-REC collaboration, including hosting a high-level delegation from EAC, IGAD, and ECCAS in Abuja. In return, IGAD hosted an ECOWAS delegation in November 2024 for an AU-ECOWAS-IGAD benchmarking exercise on human mobility in the context of climate change. The ECOWAS delegation also visited SADC later that year to learn from its successes in the EU pillar assessment.
The meeting also saw the participation of several senior ECOWAS officials, including Commissioner Abdel Fatau MUSAH, responsible for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security; Hon. Abdou KOLLEY, Director of Cabinet to the President of the Commission; Mr. Cyriaque AGNEKETHOM, Director of Peace and Security; Mr. Jérôme BOA, Director of External Relations; and other technical executives of the ECOWAS Commission.
“Since February 2024, we have witnessed remarkable progress in promoting regional integration, cooperation and development across our Member States. Through our collective commitment and unwavering dedication, we have strengthened the bonds that unite us and worked tirelessly to address some of the challenges facing our various regions and the African continent as a whole.
“Our journey has been defined by resilience, collaboration and the unwavering pursuit of a shared vision of prosperity and peace for all our peoples,” he said.