The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening regional cooperation and institutional coordination to address the growing challenges of misinformation, disinformation and information manipulation across West Africa.

The commitment was underscored at the Second Meeting of the ECOWAS Disinformation Working Group, held from 15 to 16 October 2026 in Accra, Ghana, under the theme “Towards a Coordinated ECOWAS Response to Information Integrity Challenges.” The meeting brought together representatives of ECOWAS institutions, technical and development partners, and other stakeholders to advance a coordinated regional response to emerging information threats.

In his welcome remarks, the Director of Communication of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Joel AHOFODJI, highlighted the strategic importance of information integrity to regional peace, stability, democratic governance and integration. He noted that the rapid advancement of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, presents significant opportunities while creating new risks for institutional credibility, social cohesion and public trust.

Mr Ahofodji emphasised the need for ECOWAS to strengthen its capacity to anticipate, detect and effectively respond to information threats affecting the region. He explained that the meeting provided an opportunity to reinforce coordination among ECOWAS institutions, clarify the roles and responsibilities of designated focal points, identify priority capacity-building needs and establish the next steps for collective action.

Delivering the opening remarks on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. General Birame Diop, the ECOWAS Resident Representative in Ghana, Ambassador Mohammed Lawan Gana, welcomed participants and expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Ghana for their hospitality and continued commitment to regional integration, peace and cooperation.

Ambassador Gana observed that misinformation, disinformation and manipulated content increasingly threaten democratic governance, social cohesion, peace and security, public health and regional integration. He cautioned that false narratives, coordinated influence operations, online impersonation and malicious information manipulation can erode public trust, fuel tensions and undermine confidence in institutions.

The meeting also received goodwill messages from representatives of the Danish Embassy in Nigeria, the European Union Delegation in Ghana, the Spanish Embassy and the German Embassy in Ghana, reflecting the importance of international cooperation in addressing information integrity challenges.

Technical and development partners, including the German Cooperation through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Spanish Cooperation through the Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIAP), were recognised for their support to ECOWAS efforts in this area.

The two-day meeting was structured around institutional coordination and governance, strategic planning, capacity development, and partnership alignment. Participants were expected to review progress since the inaugural meeting, discuss the institutionalisation of the Working Group, clarify mandates and responsibilities, identify priority actions and assess technical and institutional capacity gaps.

Discussions also focused on advancing the ECOWAS Information Integrity Roadmap 2026–2030, identifying opportunities for joint programming and resource mobilisation, and strengthening collaboration with partners working to counter electoral disinformation and promote peaceful democratic participation. The agenda included a session on FIAP’s Support to ECOWAS on Peace, Security and Governance project, with attention to collaboration with fact-checkers and media organisations and the ELECT PEACE collaborative digital platform.

The meeting concluded its planned programme with discussions on next steps, follow-up mechanisms and future Working Group meetings, aimed at sustaining progress towards a coordinated regional approach to information integrity.

Through this initiative, ECOWAS continues to advance efforts to build a more resilient and trustworthy information environment in West Africa, reinforcing public confidence in institutions and supporting peace, democratic governance and regional integration.