Lomé, Togo, 2 November 2026 – H.E. Anthony Oluwatosin Ogunjimi, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, led a delegation, comprising the Commissioner for Internal Services and the Director of Budget and Treasury, to the Headquarters of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) in Lomé for discussions with the Bank’s leadership. The meeting provided an opportunity to review the relationship between both institutions and to agree on practical ways to deepen their cooperation for the benefit of West African citizens.

The Vice-President presented the Commission’s priorities, anchored in ECOWAS Vision 2050, and stressed the need for initiatives that deliver visible and tangible results for citizens. He proposed collaboration in three areas: a regional fund supported by contributions from Community institutions, the Human Capital Development Programme and the Community Development Programme.

Discussions covered the HCD Catalytic Investment Fund, a revolving financing mechanism for young people and women with business ideas. Its pilot in Togo is funded and about to start, while the pilots in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone are seeking additional resources. The two institutions also discussed the new regional investment pipeline under the Community Development Programme, which aims to provide the region with a pipeline of development projects by 2027, and the importance of the Community Levy in reducing the region’s dependence on external funding at a time when development assistance is becoming more constrained.

The EBID leadership welcomed the commitment of the new management of the Commission to foster collaboration between both institutions and expressed its readiness to mobilise its technical and resource mobilisation teams. Both sides agreed to move from high-level discussions to technical work on the modalities, responsibilities and timelines of their cooperation, following a formal cooperation letter from the Commission.