ECOFEST Dakar 2025: West Africans Converge to Deepen Regional Integration Through Arts and Culture.
By Raymond Enoch
The city of Dakar is set to become the cultural heartbeat of West Africa as leaders, artists, and cultural enthusiasts from across the sub-region converge for the 2025 edition of the West African Festival of Arts and Culture (ECOFEST), a week-long celebration designed to strengthen regional integration through creativity and heritage.
The official launch of ECOFEST 2025 will take place this Sunday, November 30, 2025, from 16:00, with a live broadcast of the opening ceremony showcasing the colours, sounds, and stories that define West Africa’s shared identity. The festival is being co-organized by the Government of Senegal in partnership with the Commissions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
Hosted in Dakar from November 30 to December 6, ECOFEST 2025 — Festival Ouest Africain Arts & Culture — is more than a cultural spectacle; it is a deliberate platform to promote unity, dialogue, and people-to-people connectivity in a region often tested by political, economic, and security challenges.
At the heart of the festival is the conviction that culture remains one of West Africa’s strongest tools for building cohesion and fostering a sense of belonging that transcends borders. Through music, dance, film, visual arts, literature, fashion, theatre, and traditional performances, ECOFEST will highlight the diversity of West African cultures while underscoring their deep historical and contemporary connections.
The opening ceremony is expected to feature high-level representatives of ECOWAS and UEMOA, senior officials of the Senegalese government, cultural icons, and delegations from member states, all united under a common message: that integration is not only negotiated in boardrooms and treaties, but also lived and felt in markets, neighbourhoods, and creative spaces.
Beyond the performances on stage, ECOFEST 2025 is designed as a living laboratory of integration — a space where artists collaborate across borders, young people encounter new languages and traditions, and policymakers witness firsthand the unifying power of culture. The festival will offer opportunities for cultural exchanges, networking, and joint artistic projects that can outlive the week-long celebration.
With Dakar serving as a vibrant crossroads for Francophone, Anglophone, and Lusophone West Africa, the choice of the Senegalese capital reinforces its reputation as a major cultural hub and a gateway for regional cooperation.
As the curtains rise on ECOFEST Dakar 2025, West Africa will once again remind the world that despite its differences and difficulties, it remains bound together by a rich tapestry of heritage — and that art and culture are indispensable pillars for building the region’s future.
