87TH Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers ends ahead of Summit of Heads of State

Abuja, Nigeria, December 10, 2021. The 87th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which commenced on 9th December 2021 has ended today 10th December 2021 in Abuja, Nigeria.

In his statement to the Council during the opening ceremony, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E Jean-Claude Kassi Brou thanked the members for attending the meeting being the first time in two years that the meeting will be held physically. He said despite the tough challenges during the year particularly the emergence of new variants of COVID-19, the community had made several progresses along the security and political fronts.

H.E. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Chair of Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Republic of Ghana, in her speech, emphasised the need for Member States to build resilience against terrorist attacks, health crisis and climate change to advance regional integration of the sub-region.

Council considered the President of the ECOWAS Commission’s 2021 Annual Report on the State of the Community, Report on the Financial Situation of the Community, Report of the 41st Meeting of the Audit Committee, Memorandum on the Report of ECOWAS Ministers of Planning on Vision 2050, and Memorandum on obstacles to Intra- community Trade on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, among others.