By Anifowoshe Oladipupo
Minister of Foreign Affairs and ECOWAS Council of Ministers Chairman, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has warned West African nations against continued economic dependence on former colonial powers.
Speaking at the 94th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers in Abuja, Tuggar emphasized that regional self-reliance through trade, joint infrastructure, and indigenous industrial development is key to escaping the structural hold of colonial legacies.
“If you remain isolated, you remain dependent,” he warned. “But if you trade and build together, you reclaim your economic destiny.”
Tuggar urged member states to revive ECOWAS’s founding vision, economic decolonization and to infuse transparency, bold decision-making, and collective action into regional governance.
Echoing the call for reform, ECOWAS Commission President Dr. Omar Touray highlighted persistent non-tariff barriers as major obstacles to regional trade.
He shared personal observations from a road trip between Lagos and Cotonou, underscoring the need to remove trade bottlenecks and fully implement the Seme/Krake border post initiative.
Touray also announced plans to adopt a regional Trade and Investment Promotion Strategy, fast-track ratification of key trade agreements, and strengthen cooperation on competition and consumer protection rules.
On regional security, Touray revealed progress in ECOWAS collaboration with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on counter-terrorism and dialogue with Guinea on political transition.
The two-day ministerial session is expected to produce decisions that will shape the region’s economic and political landscape in the face of global shifts and internal challenges.
