Two Decades of ECOWAS: Assessing Regional Economic Integration and Security Efforts (2000–2024)

Abstract

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has played a pivotal role in shaping regional integration, fostering economic growth, and addressing security challenges in West Africa since its inception. This paper critically examines the achievements and failures of ECOWAS in promoting regional economic development and ensuring security from 2000 to 2024. Key achievements include strides in trade liberalization through the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) and efforts to establish a common currency. Additionally, ECOWAS has demonstrated notable success in peacekeeping operations, such as in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali, leveraging its regional security architecture. However, the study highlights significant challenges, including limited progress in achieving deeper economic integration due to infrastructural deficits and weak governance. The recurring instability in member states, exacerbated by terrorism, coups, and cross-border crimes, has also tested ECOWAS's ability to maintain regional peace. Using secondary sources and expert interviews, this paper identifies gaps in institutional capacity, inconsistent political will, and inadequate funding as critical impediments. The findings underscore the need for a recalibration of ECOWAS’s strategies to enhance its effectiveness in addressing the dual mandates of economic and security governance, offering policy recommendations for a sustainable regional framework.