On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, in Abuja, Nigeria, the Vice President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Anthony Oluwatosin Ogunjimi, reaffirmed the regional organization’s commitment to further deepening its cooperation and partnership with the Federal Republic of Germany.

This came during the opening of the strategic dialogue between ECOWAS and Germany; a meeting attended by the Ambassador of Germany to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Stefan Rossel, a delegation from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), including Ms. Karen Pfundt, Head of Division, West Africa II, of said ministry, representatives of GIZ, as well as directors and senior officials of the ECOWAS Commission.

This meeting, Mr. Ogunjimi noted, marks the inauguration of a new “strategic dialogue”—a term replacing the traditional concept of “consultation” to reflect the shift toward deeper, more open, and constructive cooperation between both parties.

A partner to ECOWAS since 1985, Germany has committed approximately 494 million euros in bilateral technical and financial cooperation, in addition to an extra 49 million euros committed for the 2025–2026 period during negotiations in November 2025, divided between financial cooperation (32.8 million euros) and technical cooperation (16.2 million euros).

For this reason, on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, General Birame Diop, Mr. Ogunjimi expressed his gratitude to the German government for its unwavering partnership and long-standing support to the regional community and the West African people.

Although German development budgets are currently under significant pressure due to national budget reallocations in favor of defense, Mr. Ogunjimi welcomed the orientation of Germany’s new Africa policy, which ties development cooperation more closely to economic, security, and foreign policy interests while placing the private sector at the center.

This meeting took place two months after new leadership assumed office at the helm of the ECOWAS Commission. This new team is determined to consolidate and expand this partnership—a commitment also reaffirmed last week in Abuja during fruitful discussions with a delegation from the German Parliament, Mr. Ogunjimi stressed.

During the discussions, the assets of the ECOWAS space were highlighted, notably its common market of over 400 million inhabitants, its Common External Tariff (CET), its attractiveness for trade and investment, and the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

To this end, German investors are actively invited to seize regional opportunities at a time when the regional organization is stepping up efforts to remove non-tariff barriers, facilitate cross-border trade, digitize trade procedures, and expand e-commerce opportunities across the region.

The ECOWAS Commission is committed to facilitating dialogue and partnerships between German investors and its Member States, Mr. Ogunjimi noted.

In this regard, he expressed high expectations for the German-African Business Summit scheduled in Ghana in 2026, which will provide an excellent platform to strengthen trade partnerships and promote concrete investment opportunities.

Mr. Ogunjimi encouraged Germany to continue advocating within the European Union for stronger economic engagement with West Africa and improved market access for regional exports.

He reiterated that the ECOWAS Commission remains dedicated to a robust, forward-looking partnership with Germany based on mutual respect, shared values, and common interests.

“We value Germany’s consistent support and view the country as a key strategic partner in advancing regional integration, peace, security, and sustainable development in West Africa,” Mr. Ogunjimi concluded.

For their part, Ms. Karen Pfundt and Stefan Rossel reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to further supporting ECOWAS’s efforts to address regional challenges and promote peace, security, and stability across the region.

It is worth noting that this meeting will notably address trade, sustainable infrastructure, regional challenges and their implications for development cooperation between Germany and ECOWAS, as well as priorities for future cooperation between the two sides.

Governance and conflict prevention priorities for the next four years, strengthening donor coordination through ECOWAS, promoting civil society as a partner for peace and stability, and mainstreaming the “climate-human mobility” nexus are also among the topics to be discussed.

Participants will also exchange views on themes such as boosting ECOWAS’s contribution to greater regional integration of value chains, ways to strengthen ownership of quality regional infrastructure, the contribution of German development cooperation to regional Ebola pandemic prevention, future priorities in the health sector, and upcoming bilateral negotiations.