West Africa’s Future Faces Transformation, ECOWAS Holds a Youth Conference n Senegal 1-3rd July 2025.
By Raymond Enoch
As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) continue to mark its golden jubilee with various Transformative activities, this time the institution s shifting the spotlight onto its most dynamic force — its youth.
From the 1st to 3rd July 2025, the coastal town of Saly, Sénégal, will host a landmark Regional Youth Conference under the compelling theme: “Engaging ECOWAS for a New Vision of Youth.”
This high-level gathering is poised to be a turning point, uniting youth leaders, policymakers, civil society, and development experts to reimagine the future of over 200 million young people across West Africa. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, the conference underscores a deliberate pivot in ECOWAS strategy — one that places youth engagement, innovation, and empowerment at the heart of regional development.
With pressing issues such as youth unemployment, access to quality education, entrepreneurship, and vocational training taking center stage, the conference seeks not just to discuss problems but to co-create actionable solutions. Participants will engage in robust dialogue aimed at aligning youth aspirations with ECOWAS’s institutional goals for sustainable peace, prosperity, and integration.
Speaking to Paradigm News ahead of the event, a senior ECOWAS official emphasized that “This conference is not about youth being heard — it is about youth being at the decision-making table.”
Workshops, innovation labs, policy forums, and networking sessions will culminate in a Youth Action Framework, intended to guide future programming and policy reforms within the ECOWAS Commission and its member states.
The timing could not be more urgent. With over 60% of West Africa’s population under the age of 25, ECOWAS recognizes that investing in youth is not optional — it’s existential. This conference is a bold step in harnessing that potential, ensuring that young people are not just beneficiaries of development, but architects of a new regional vision.
As the new dawn rises over the Senegalese coast, all eyes will be on Saly — where the future of West Africa is being written not by politicians or bureaucrats, but by its bold, brilliant, and determined youth.
