ECOWAS COMMISSION HOSTS EVALUATION COMMITTEE MEETING FOR WEST AFRICAN SUBMARINE CABLE CAPACITY UNDER WARDIP

The ECOWAS Commission is currently hosting delegates and officials from The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone at its headquarters in Abuja for a crucial evaluation exercise running from June 29 to July 10, 2026. The objective of the meeting is to evaluate proposals for the supply of submarine cable capacity to boost redundancy and resilience of digital connectivity across the sub-region.

This evaluation is a key step in the procurement process for a major multi-country initiative aimed at deploying a second submarine cable in the concerned countries. The project is being implemented under the World Bank-financed Western Africa Regional Digital Integration Program (WARDIP).

The Commission’s facilitation of this exercise is a coordinated effort led by the Directorate of Digital Economy and Post, the Project Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU), and the ECOWAS WARDIP Project Implementation Unit (PIU). This active partnership between the Commission and the participating Member States underscores a shared commitment to regional integration and digital sovereignty. By enhancing critical infrastructure layer access, this milestone moves the region closer to achieving a fully integrated, seamless common digital market.