Merci Beau-Coup: The Economic Community of West African States, 2025

ECOWAS, short for the Economic Community of West African States, is a political and economic union of twelve countries in West Africa that was established in 1975. Originally with a mission of promoting economic integration across the region, it today aims to raise living standards, promote economic development, and achieve collective self-sufficiency by creating a regional trade bloc. Furthermore, the bloc also emphasizes values such as economic and social justice, solidarity, equality, and interdependence. Uniquely, ECOWAS also serves as a regional peacekeeping force, with countries occasionally sending military forces to intervene in instances of political unrest and instability in other member states. 

As of 2025, three military governments in the Coup Belt–Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali – announced their withdrawal from the bloc after brutal military takeovers of previously democratic governments. Many other insurgencies have occurred in the region, destabilizing previously stable democracies and upending decades of economic progress and prosperity. Concurrently, major economic powers such as the United States, China, India, France, and Russia are all realizing the enormous potential of Africa as a source of critical minerals to drive the renewable energy revolution. Hence, faced with threats, challenges, and promises from both within and without, West African states now face the unenviable challenge of having to stand its ground and uphold the values that have defined it for the last five decades. 

West Africa now stands on the precipice–of both disaster and prosperity. Your choices will determine the futures of more than 400 million people on the continent; are you ready?