Senegal’s Gen. Birame Diop has assumed office as the new President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission.
This was preceded by a brief handover ceremony held at the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja on Monday. It featured the signing of handover notes and the presentation of certificates and gifts.
Diop succeeds Dr Omar Alieu Touray of The Gambia, who served as President of the Commission for four years after assuming office in 2022.
Diop, a retired Air Force General, served as Senegal’s Minister of Defence from 2024 until June 2026. He previously served as Chief of the General Staff of the Senegalese Armed Forces before becoming a military adviser to the United Nations Department of Peace Operations.
Earlier in his career, he served with the UN peacekeeping mission in Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Other members of the new ECOWAS Commission management team include Anthony Ogunjimi, Vice-President.
The new commissioners are Amin Amidu Sulemani (CIED); Dehpue Yenpea Zuo (CEAAs); Arifari Nassirou Bako (CHDSAs); Mrs Frances Piagie Alghali (CPAPS); and Dr Kalilou Sylla (CISs).
The new statutory appointees are Mrs Carla Maria Borges Bettencourt, Auditor-General; Dr Palokinam Pitche, Director-General, West African Health Organisation (WAHO); and Mam Cherno Jallow, Director-General, Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
