The Economic Community of West African States and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development are exploring stronger collaboration on regional development financing, with a focus on supporting young entrepreneurs, women and a pipeline of investment projects targeted for development by 2027.

The discussions took place at the EBID headquarters in Lomé, Togo, during a meeting aimed at identifying practical areas of cooperation between the two institutions and improving the implementation of development programmes across the West African region.

The Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, Anthony Oluwatosin Ogunjimi, who led the Commission’s delegation to the meeting on November 2, outlined areas of cooperation under the ECOWAS Vision 2050 framework.

He proposed collaboration on a regional fund financed through contributions from Community institutions, the Human Capital Development Programme and the Community Development Programme.

A key proposal was the Human Capital Development Catalytic Investment Fund, a revolving financing scheme intended to provide support to young people and women with viable business ideas.

The Commission said the pilot phase of the initiative in Togo had secured funding and was expected to begin, while additional resources were still being sought for proposed pilot programmes in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.

The meeting also considered the development of a regional investment pipeline under the Community Development Programme. The initiative is expected to identify, develop and prepare projects that could attract financing by 2027.

Both institutions examined the potential role of the ECOWAS Community Levy in strengthening the region’s capacity to finance its development priorities and reduce reliance on external assistance.

This comes amid growing concerns over limited development aid and the need for West African countries to mobilise more sustainable sources of funding within the region.

The EBID leadership expressed willingness to deploy its technical and resource mobilisation teams to advance the proposed areas of cooperation.

The two sides agreed to proceed to technical discussions on the responsibilities, implementation framework and timelines for the proposed initiatives, following a formal cooperation letter from the ECOWAS Commission.

No specific funding amount, implementation date for the proposed regional fund or list of projects to be financed under the planned investment pipeline was announced at the meeting.