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
Headquarters	Abuja, Nigeria 9°2′35″N 7°31′32″E / 9.04306°N 7.52556°E / 9.04306; 7.52556
Official languages	French English Portuguese
Membership	15 members  Benin  Burkina Faso  Cape Verde  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Ivory Coast  Liberia  Mali  Niger  Nigeria  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Togo
Leaders
• Chairman	Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• President of the Commission	Marcel Alain de Souza
• Speaker of the Parliament	Moustapha Cissé Lô
Establishment
• Treaty of Lagos	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	Escudo (CVE) Cedi (GHS) b Dalasi (GMD) b Franc (GNF) b Dollar (LRD) c Naira (NGN) b Leone (SLL) c W. African CFA franc (XOF)
Time zone	(UTC+0 to +1)
Website http://www.ecowas.int/
If considered as a single entity. To be replaced by the eco. Liberia and Sierra Leone have expressed an interest in joining the eco.

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.