Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been elected the new chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), following the conclusion of the 69th Ordinary Session of the regional bloc held Sunday in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Faye takes over from Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, who chaired the body since June 2025.
The handover was formalised at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre in Freetown, where West African leaders gathered for the bloc’s mid-year summit.
The meeting focused on key policy decisions, strategic resolutions, and a collective reaffirmation of the region’s commitment to peace, democracy, economic growth, and regional integration.
Nigeria was represented at the summit by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who departed Abuja earlier Sunday to stand in for President Bola Tinubu. Shettima joined political and business leaders from across West Africa and beyond at the Freetown venue.
Faye’s ascension to the chairmanship caps a journey that has seen the Senegalese leader steadily cement his country’s standing within the West African bloc.
At the 67th Ordinary Session in Abuja in June 2025, Faye had been widely expected to assume the rotating chairmanship, with his candidacy said to command broad support.
However, in a surprising turn, Bio of Sierra Leone was elected instead, contrary to pre-summit speculations that Faye had been picked during a private meeting held ahead of the session.
The withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger from ECOWAS, which took effect in January 2025, had altered the bloc’s internal voting dynamics, effectively weakening the francophone bloc and shifting the regional power balance in ways that complicated Senegal’s bid at the time.
One year on, the landscape has shifted again. With Bio’s tenure at an end and Senegal’s regional credibility at a high point, Faye has now assumed the role his country had long been positioned for.
