The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany H.E. Olaf Scholz visits the ECOWAS Commission

His Excellency Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany visited the ECOWAS Commission on Sunday, October 29, 2023, as part of his visit to Nigeria. The Chancellor met with H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, the President of the ECOWAS Commission and other Members of Management at the ECOWAS Commission Headquarters.

Recently, ECOWAS signed a new €80.75 million financial and technical cooperation commitment with Germany to support ongoing programmes and projects under the ECOWAS-German Cooperation for the period 2023-2024, with a special focus on the thematic areas of: Peaceful and Inclusive Societies; Climate and Energy, constitutional transition in government, Sustainable Economic Development, Training and Employment; Health, Social Protection and Population Policy. This brings to approximately €494.41 million the volume of Technical and Financial Cooperation between ECOWAS-Germany since 1985.

While welcoming the Chancellor, H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, thanked the German Government for their commitment to ECOWAS and the Integration Agenda in West Africa and expressed the Commission’s commitment to strengthening existing cooperation. He added that the Chancellors visit marks a new phase of cooperation, which will allow the region to enjoy the benefits of the development and expertise of Germany.

H.E. Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in his statement expressed Germany’s readiness to support peace and democracy in the Region as well as ways of increasing trade in the Region.

On the margins of the meeting between the German Chancellor and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mme Massandjé Toure-Listé, the Commissioner Economic Affairs and Agriculture led a meeting of German Business Delegation comprising of Chief Executives of top German firms and ECOWAS. The Commissioner briefed the delegation on the progress made on the ECOWAS single currency and the ECOVISA.

Discussions during the meeting focussed on strengthening relationships and cooperation in Agriculture, ICT, Infrastructure, climate change, Energy, Trade and enhancement of movement of goods and services between ECOWAS and the EU.

The visit provided an opportunity for the German Chancellor, the Business Executives that travelled with the Chancellor and ECOWAS to engage in discussions on areas of existing and new cooperation.