Author: O’tega Ogra

FOR all the ambition that has long swirled around regional integration in West Africa, the reality has remained underwhelming. Trade among ECOWAS member states still lags just below 10%. In an era where continents compete not just on GDP but on supply chains, self-reliance, and economic coherence, that figure is a quiet indictment. At the West Africa Economic Summit (WAES) 2025 in Abuja, we saw a region no longer content with aspiration alone. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, both host and the then ECOWAS Chairman, set the tone from the outset. “Intra-regional trade remains under 10 per cent… a challenge we…