Senegal President Elected ECOWAS Chairman

Senegal’s President, Diomaye Faye, has been elected as the new Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

The Senegalese president succeeds his Sierra Leonean counterpart and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, Julius Maada Bio.

Bio had emerged as the new Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government when President Bola Tinubu’s two-term leadership of the bloc came to an end in June, 2025.

President Tinubu handed over the mantle of leadership to President Bio at the 67th Ordinary Session of the Authority held in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Faye succeeds Bio at a particularly challenging period for ECOWAS, with security threats, democratic setbacks, and the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger still dominating the regional agenda.

Aged 46, Faye represents a younger generation of African leaders.

His leadership could inject new momentum into ECOWAS’ reform agenda, especially on governance, accountability, youth inclusion and institutional credibility.

His position places Senegal at the centre of major regional diplomatic and political decisions.