The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) extends warm congratulations to President Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló on his appointment as President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
President Embaló was unanimously elected during the 61st Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, held in Accra on July 3, 2022. The President of Guinea-Bissau succeeds Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana, who served two terms.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló became President of Guinea-Bissau on February 27, 2020, after the electoral commission confirmed him as the winner of the second round of the country’s presidential elections, held on December 29, 2021, against Domingos Simões Pereira.
His unanimous election as President of ECOWAS is an endorsement of his leadership in Guinea-Bissau over the last two and a half years and a demonstration of his peers’ confidence in his ability to guide the sub-regional bloc towards peace, stability and economic development.
President Embaló takes over the ECOWAS presidency at a particularly challenging time, when the West African region, especially the northern Sahel zone of Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, continues to battle jihadist insurgency with the threat of a spillover into Togo and Benin. The sub-region has also witnessed a democratic backlash with Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso registering military coups. The new head of ECOWAS himself survived an abortive but bloody coup attempt on February 1, 2022.
The precarious security situation in the Sahel, together with military coups, has affected press freedom and restricted civic space in West Africa.
As West Africa’s leading advocacy organization for freedom of expression and the press, we are pleased to learn that President Embaló is prioritizing peace and stability during his tenure as the new ECOWAS President. We trust in his commitment and ability to deliver on his promise and stand ready to work with his administration to promote peace and democracy in order to foster a more favorable environment for media practice throughout West Africa.
The Media Foundation for West Africa and its partners wish President Embaló all the best and urge all stakeholders to support him in the arduous mission of leading the sub-regional bloc towards peace, democracy and stability.
