The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, received in audience Dr Kalilou Sylla Commissioner for Internal Affairs of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He was sworn in on 1st September this year for the 2026 – 2030 term. He is an Ivorian economist, with more than 38 years of experience in shaping regional economic, agricultural and trade policies, leading institutional reforms, and coordinating regional integration programmes.
Discussions centered extensively on the visionary changes set in motion by the new leadership of ECOWAS, new cost cutting measures, proposed steps to make the personnel recruitment process more transparent and initiatives to make the impact of the Commission more visibly felt across member states.
Nigeria continues to serve as the dominant political, economic, and security leader of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and our core aspirations include driving regional free trade, advancing single-currency and infrastructure goals, defending constitutional order, institutionalizing good governance, and promoting democracy whilst demonstrably resisting military coups across member states.
