ECOWAS Speaker urges lawmakers to ensure implementation of regional trade and governance commitments

The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament, Memunatu Ibrahima has charged lawmakers from member states to ensure implementation of regional trade and governance commitments.
Ibrahima charged ECOWAS lawmakers to rise above political, economic and security realities confronting the region.
She gave the charges at the close of the First Ordinary Session of 2026 in Abuja at the weekend.
She urged the lawmakers to strengthen their oversight role in advancing the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The session was preceded by a three-day parliamentary seminar focused on AfCFTA, during which members examined both the opportunities and challenges associated with the continental trade pact.
The Speaker acknowledged that while the agreement offers immense prospects for economic transformation, concerns remain among member states.
“While the agreement raises great hopes, it has not been unanimously accepted,” the Speaker noted, citing issues such as non-tariff barriers, slow harmonisation of legal frameworks, infrastructural gaps and the risk of excluding women, youth and informal cross-border traders.
The Speaker stressed that such concerns should not be seen as opposition to integration but as a call for practical and inclusive implementation. “The implementation of the AfCFTA cannot be decreed; it is built, step by step, with our Member States and our economic actors,” the Speaker said.
Emphasising Parliament’s responsibility as the voice of the people, the Speaker outlined a threefold mission: to advocate for the ratification and effective implementation of AfCFTA protocols, to monitor the alignment of national policies with regional commitments, and to raise awareness among citizens and businesses about opportunities within the integrated market.
“We must be the voice that challenges, the eye that monitors, and the engine that drives progress,” the speaker declared.
She noted that parliamentary oversight must drive inclusive and transparent regional integration.
During the session, lawmakers adopted the Parliament’s 2026 Programme of Activities, structured around four key priorities — Citizen Participation, Institutional Strengthening, Peace and Governance, and Facilitation. The Speaker described the programme as a roadmap toward building “a citizen-oriented Parliament.”
The adoption of the 2026 programme of ECOFEPA, the network of women parliamentarians within ECOWAS, was also welcomed as a strategic step in promoting gender inclusion in regional development efforts.
The Speaker expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Nigeria for hosting the session and thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the hospitality extended to delegates. The presence of sister institutions, including the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Court of Justice, was described as a demonstration of community solidarity.
Reflecting on the region’s broader challenges, including fragile political transitions, security threats, economic vulnerabilities and climate pressures, the Speaker cautioned against retreating from integration efforts.
“Our unity and our integration are more than ever shields and bulwarks,” the Speaker said, calling on lawmakers to ensure that resolutions from the session translate into “concrete actions, courageous reforms and more inclusive public policies” across member states.