Senegal’s Gen. Birame Diop was sworn in on Monday as the new President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission.
Diop succeeds Dr Omar Alieu Touray of The Gambia, who served as President of the commission for four years after assuming office in 2022.
The handover ceremony was held at the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja and featured the signing of handover notes and the presentation of certificates and gifts.
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); Frances Piagie Alghali (CPAPS); and Dr Kalilou Sylla (CISs).
The new statutory appointees are Carla Maria Borges Bettencourt, Auditor-General; Dr Palokinam Pitche, Director-General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO); and Mam Cherno Jallow, Director-General of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
