Marcel Alain de Souza replaces Kadré Ouedraogo as ECOWAS Commission Head

Marcel Alain de Souza of Benin has been named the new President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

de Souza assumed the position Friday following the completion of the 4-year tenure of Kadré Ouedraogo. He took over at a ceremony at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.

The outgoing president expressed confidence in his successor facilitating the integration in the sub-region.

The 62-year-old de Souza, brings a wealth of experience to his new position – most recently, he was the Internal Controller at the Head Office of Bank of West African States (BCEAO) for Benin and Director of Administration at the BCEAO headquarters. He has also served his country as the Head of Department of Economic and Financial Affairs in the Office of the President and as Special Advisor to the President on Monetary and Banking Affairs.

In his farewell address, Ouedraogo said that the sub-region was still faced with numerous challenges despite the progress and rapid growth made. He called on the heads of institutions and all member states of the region support the new president as they have done with him.

ECOWAS member states include Benin Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, , Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire ) Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.