ECOWAS Deepens Regional Integration, Awards Scholarships to Six Students in Senegal, Seals Academic Deal with the University of Lomé.
By Raymond Enoch
In a major step to strengthen regional cooperation through education and multilingual capacity-building, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Friday, November 14, 2025, awarded scholarships to six students from Gaston Berger University (Senegal) and signed a landmark Technical Assistance Agreement with the University of Lomé (Togo).
The dual ceremony, held at the headquarters of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) in Lomé, forms part of activities marking the organisation’s 50th anniversary celebration in Togo. The event was anchored on the theme “Promoting regional integration: institutional and academic cooperation in the service of multilingualism.”
The initiative also marked the official launch of the second phase of the Pan-African Master’s Program in Conference Interpreting and Translation (PAMCIT II), a flagship ECOWAS effort aimed at grooming a new generation of world-class interpreters and translators to support increasingly complex regional and global engagements.
ECOWAS Vice-President, H.E. Damtien Larbli TCHINTCHIBIDJA, presided over the ceremony, describing the scholarships and technical agreement as “an investment in the human capital required to advance integration, enhance communication, and promote unity across linguistic diversity in West Africa.”
Also present were top dignitaries and institutional leaders, including the President of EBID, Dr. George Agyekum Nana Donkor; the new ECOWAS Resident Representative in Togo, H.E. Madam Deweh Emily Gray; Head of the ECOWAS National Office in Togo, Mr. Lagnie Bambimle; and the UN Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, Mr. Movses Abelian.
Others included Ms. Olukemi Robinson-Atabuh, Director of Conferences and Protocol at the ECOWAS Commission and Chair of PAMCIT II, alongside representatives of partner universities and a host of invited guests.
The scholarship awards and the new partnership with the University of Lomé are expected to expand training, research collaboration, and technical capacity in conference interpretation and translation—sectors seen as strategic to ECOWAS’s multilingual character and integration agenda.
With PAMCIT II now in motion, ECOWAS says it is reinforcing its commitment to equipping West Africa’s young scholars with the competencies needed to serve in regional institutions, international organizations, and global diplomatic platforms.
