ECOWAS Commissioner Dehpue Yenpea Zuo has met Gambian authorities on regional integration, cross-border trade, food security and 2027 ECO launch plans, the Commission said.
The engagements took place on the sidelines of the international conference of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) in Banjul, The Gambia, held from September 15 to 18, 2026.
According to the Commission, the discussions involved the Gambian Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy, and the Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment.
On trade, Commissioner Zuo emphasised the urgency of eliminating non-tariff barriers, improving border security and facilitating the unhindered movement of citizens and goods.
On monetary union, the talks focused on governance bottlenecks the Commission says are delaying the ECO currency.
These include pending decisions on the institution’s headquarters, its leadership structure, fund management and the allocation of positions among member states, as well as building consensus ahead of the planned 2027 launch.
Commissioner Zuo sought the Gambian leadership’s support in resolving the outstanding issues.
On food security, the Commissioner and Gambian officials highlighted that 50 to 60 percent of food consumed within the bloc is currently imported.
To reduce that dependency, the Commission outlined plans to secure farmland for smallholder producers and to mobilise agricultural credit through the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), alongside supplemental funding requests to the World Bank, African Development Bank and Arab Bank.
In meetings with the trade minister, Commissioner Zuo advocated for data-driven trade policies and discussed infrastructure for the ERCA headquarters in The Gambia, following confirmation that the Gambian government has allocated land and completed facility designs.
The Commission described the engagements as part of its ongoing regional consultations to consolidate Community priorities ahead of key 2027 milestones.
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