“ECOWAS must make the private sector the engine of development in west Africa”, said H.E. Dr Omar Alieu Touray, during his visit to the Dangote petroleum refinery in Lagos State, Nigeria.

On the sidelines of the ECOWAS fiftieth anniversary celebrations in Lagos, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, accompanied by Professor Abdullahi NAZIFI DARMA, Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Mr Sediko DOUKA, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, and a number of ECOWAS staff, paid a visit to the oil refinery site of Africa’s number one fortune on the 29^th of May, 2025. The DANGOTE refinery, the largest private investment in Africa at a total cost of over 20 billion US dollars, is being built on a 2635-hectare site in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Welcomed by President Aliko DANGOTE, Dr Omar Alieu TOURAY reaffirmed ECOWAS’s firm commitment to collaborating with and seeking the expertise and support of the major players in the African private sector in drawing up and implementing development policies. According to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the problem of combating poverty and youth unemployment cannot be resolved by Member States without the contribution of the private sector, which creates wealth and opportunities for growth.

During his visit to this ultra-modern facility, which produces more than 650,000 barrels of oil a day, the President of the ECOWAS Commission said that the Dangote refinery is a beacon of hope for Africa’s future and a clear demonstration of what the private sector can achieve as part of the regional industrialisation effort. “What I’ve seen today gives me a lot of hope, and anyone who doesn’t believe in Africa should come here. Coming here will give you even more hope, because this is exactly what our continent should be focusing on. We congratulate Alhaji Dangote on his confidence in Africa, because I think you can only do that if you have confidence and a vision for Africa, and that’s what we should all be encouraging”, said the President of the ECOWAS Commission.

On the need to promote the African private sector, the President of the ECOWAS Commission called for stronger collaboration between governments and the private sector, stressing that policy decisions must reflect the real challenges and opportunities faced by African manufacturers. He also said that as ECOWAS celebrates its 50th anniversary, the community is more committed than ever to bringing the private sector to the table, listening to its views and understanding how to create an enabling environment for it. “We cannot continue to take decisions on behalf of the private sector from a distance”, he added.

“We often talk about poverty eradication and youth employment, but the governments of our Member States do not always have the capacity to achieve these goals. Only the private sector can have the necessary impact, and it is essential that we listen to the private sector, understand how these goals can be achieved and identify the bottlenecks they face in order to address them effectively. This is the only realistic way to create jobs and real prosperity across our economies” concluded President Omar Alieu TOURAY.

While expressing his thanks to the ECOWAS delegation for this visit, President Aliko DANGOTE confirmed his willingness to make his expertise available to Member States as part of the development and implementation of an effective strategy to create jobs for young people and combat poverty in West Africa.