With a rallying call for unity, ambition, and urgency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has challenged West African leaders to abandon fragmentation and pursue bold economic integration at the first-ever West Africa Economic Summit held Saturday in Abuja.
Addressing fellow heads of state, policymakers, and regional stakeholders, Tinubu—also Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government—declared that the region stands at a decisive crossroads.
“Opportunity is not destiny,” he warned. “We must earn it—through vision, collaboration, and capital alignment.”
He decried West Africa’s chronically low intra-regional trade—still under 10%—as a sign of policy disconnection, not lack of ambition.
“The global economy will not wait for West Africa to get its act together—and neither should we,” he said pointedly.
Tinubu called for an end to the extractive “pit-to-port” economic model that has long defined African resource exports.
“Our rare minerals power tomorrow’s technologies—but we must become value-chain smart. The era of raw export must end. The era of regional manufacturing must begin,” he declared to applause.
The President emphasized that Africa cannot afford to miss another industrial revolution. With a youthful population and abundant resources, the continent holds promise—but only if it invests urgently in education, innovation, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship.
He spotlighted transformative projects like the Lagos–Abidjan Highway and the West African Power Pool as proof that integration is possible when backed by political will.
“But we must move from policy frameworks to concrete deals—from statements to systems,” he urged.
Importantly, Tinubu shifted the spotlight to the region’s youth and women, describing them as the drivers of future prosperity. “Let us improve the business climate, invest in talent, and build systems that work—for entrepreneurs, for creatives, for communities,” he said.
He underscored the role of government not as sole driver, but as enabler: “Governments must provide law, order, and market-friendly policies. The private sector must power the growth.”
Closing his address, Tinubu called on the summit to produce actionable outcomes that go beyond rhetoric. “Let us build a West Africa that is competitive, investable, and resilient—one that leads with unity, courage, and vision.”
Then, with a final note of conviction, he declared:
“This is the new West African proposition. Let us make it real. Let us make it bankable.”