President Joseph Boakai of Liberia has extended his congratulations to President Julius Maada Bio on his new role as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. The announcement was made at the conclusion of the 67th Ordinary Session held at State House in Abuja, Nigeria.
Expressing his pleasure, President Boakai conveyed his heartfelt congratulations to President Bio, who is from Sierra Leone, a neighboring country to Liberia.
President Bio succeeds Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who served two consecutive terms starting in July 2023. As the new Chairperson, President Bio will lead the Authority, which is ECOWAS’s highest decision-making body comprising heads of state and government from member states in West Africa. Recently, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger withdrew their membership from the original 15-member community.
The mandate for the Chair includes guiding policy decisions on regional integration, peace and security efforts, economic policies, political governance reforms, institutional reform efforts, and promoting Africa’s position on United Nations Security Council Reform.
ECOWAS was founded in May 1975 with goals including economic integration among member states, facilitating free movement for its citizens, promoting peace and stability across the region, and advancing democratic governance.