The ECOWAS Commission has strengthened diplomatic relations with the African Union through the various engagements by the Office of the Permanent Representative of ECOWAS to the African Union. The Ambassador, H. E Francis Gabriel OKE, in furtherance of his mandate, paid courtesy calls to his peers of RECs and RMs of the African Union. He further undertook planned visits to key actors of the African Union and the ECOWAS Group of Ambassadors in Addis-Ababa including HE Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; HE Mrs Cessouma Minata Samate, AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development; HE Fafre Camara, Ambassador of Mali and former dean of the ECOWAS Group of Ambassadors; HE Mrs Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah, Ambassador of Ghana; HE Mrs Maria Antonieta Pinto Lopes D’Alva, Ambassador of Guinea Bissau and HE Victor Adekunle Adeleke, Ambassador of Nigeria.

At each engagement, Ambassador Oke highlighted the strategic and visibility roles that the ECOWAS Permanent Representation will play not only as a Regional Economic Community (REC) but as one of the main building blocks of the African Union, pursuant to the implementation and objectives of the Agenda 2063. He also exchanges ideas with other leaders on key security and economic challenges faced the West African blocs and how diplomacy can address these challenges in the continent.

The Office of the Permanent Representative also received a delegation led by Officers of WANEP Liaison Office in Addis-Ababa with the “COPAC” Steering Committee that came to visiting the AU’s Continental Early Warning System as part of WANEP’s ongoing effort to strengthen the Central Africa Civil Society’s contribution to early warning mechanisms at the level continental level.