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Economic Community Of West African States

Economic Community of West African States
  • Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest  (French)
  • Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental  (Portuguese)
Emblem of the Economic Community of West African States
Emblem
Location of the Economic Community of West African States
Headquarters

Nigeria Abuja, Nigeria

9°2′35″N 7°31′32″E / 9.04306°N 7.52556°E / 9.04306; 7.52556
Official languages
Membership
Leaders
• Chairman
Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• President of the Commission
Benin Marcel Alain de Souza
Senegal Moustapha Cissé Lô
Establishment
28 May 1975
Area
• Total
5,114,162 km2 (1,974,589 sq mi) (7th)
Population
• 2015 estimate
349,154,000 (3rd)
• Density
68.3/km2 (176.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) 2015 estimate
• Total
US$1.483 trillion (18th)
• Per capita
US$4,247
GDP (nominal) estimate
• Total

$675 billion

2015 (21st)
• Per capita
$1,985
Currency
Time zone (UTC+0 to +1)
  1. If considered as a single entity.
  2. To be replaced by the eco.
  3. Liberia and Sierra Leone have expressed an interest in joining the eco.

Nigeria Abuja, Nigeria

$675 billion

The Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS (French: Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, CEDEAO; Portuguese: Comunidade Económica dos Estados da África Ocidental, CEDEAO) is a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of 5,114,162 km2 (1,974,589 sq mi), and in 2015 had an estimated population of over 349 million.

The union was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, with its stated mission to promote economic integration across the region. A revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993 in Cotonou. Considered one of the pillar regional blocs of the continent-wide African Economic Community (AEC), the states goal of ECOWAS is to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for its member states by creating a single large trading bloc by building a full economic and trading union.

ECOWAS also serves as a peacekeeping force in the region, with member states occasionally sending joint military forces to intervene in bloc's member countries at times of political instability and unrest. In recent years these included interventions in Ivory Coast in 2003, Liberia in 2003, Guinea-Bissau in 2012, Mali in 2013, and Gambia in 2017.


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Wikipedia

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