New ECOWAS headquarters signals push from regional market to regional production base — Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
President Bola Tinubu has said the inauguration of the new Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) headquarters in Abuja will renew the bloc’s commitment to regional integration, peace, industrialisation and shared prosperity and urged member states to shift from being a regional market to becoming a regional production base.
Speaking at the commissioning on Thursday (represented by Vice‑President Kashim Shettima), President Tinubu described the new complex dubbed the “Eye of Africa” as “a symbol of renewal, of resilience, and of confidence in the future of ECOWAS.”
He said the building renews “our covenant with the ideals of regional integration, solidarity and shared prosperity.”
“The hour has come to transform our regional market into a regional production base,” Tinubu said.
“Our integration must increasingly be driven by what we produce rather than by what we consume, for a Community that consumes what it does not make will forever live at the mercy of the goodwill of others.”
Tinubu praised ECOWAS as one of the world’s most respected regional economic communities, highlighting progress in peace‑building, democratic governance, economic cooperation, and free movement.
He also warned that the region still faces “terrorism, violent extremism, economic vulnerability, food insecurity, climate change, public health concerns and the expectations of a growing youthful population.”
He said the next phase of integration must move beyond rhetoric to “practical economic transformation” prioritising deeper industrialisation, stronger regional value chains, expanded intra‑regional trade, innovation, manufacturing and investment.
On recent withdrawals by three member states, Tinubu said integration “can no longer be an economic imperative alone. It has become a comprehensive framework for our collective security, our political stability, our sustainable development and the welfare of our peoples.”
He urged renewed dialogue and said the ECOWAS door should remain open to states that have stood apart.
President Tinubu commended Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, for steady leadership and congratulated the ECOWAS Commission and project partners for delivering the headquarters.
He expressed appreciation to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for financing the project and to Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group, consultants and Nigerian partners.
“May every decision taken within these walls advance the peace, the unity, the prosperity, and the dignity of the peoples of West Africa,” Tinubu said.
President Bio said the new building gives member states an opportunity “to renew our collective promise to the 450 million people of West Africa” and warned that history remembers generations for lives transformed rather than structures built.
He thanked Nigeria for its sustained support and described the country as “a great anchor” of the bloc, and he commended China for the donation.
ECOWAS Commission President Dr Omar Touray expressed deep appreciation to China for the gift, saying the headquarters will stand as “a symbol of regional partnership and integration, and a centre for enhancing coordination and support for the expanding mandate of ECOWAS.”
He urged management and staff to ensure the facility becomes “a centre of regional transformation and social stability.”
China’s Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Yu Dunhai, congratulated West African leaders on the inauguration and described the edifice as a milestone in China‑Africa cooperation.
He said future relations should be based on mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation that helps Africa determine its own development pathways.
