Ghanaian Head of State Nana Akufo-Addo was elected President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the organization's 57th summit, held Monday in Niamey, Niger.M. Akufo-Addo, who succeeds Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou was elected unanimously for a period of one year. Thanking the Assembly for this honour, President Akufo-Addo assured that he would do his best to carry out his duties. "Despite the considerable progress that has been made since the creation of ECOWAS, I am fully aware of the challenges facing West Africa," he said. The regional organization is facing, according to him, five challenges, namely terrorism, the COVID-19 pandemic, the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area on 1 January 2021, the decision on monetary union within the ECOWAS area and the consolidation of governance d democratic. He urged the heads of state of the sub-region to implement regional decisions, such as the ECOWAS trade liberalization program and common values of governance. During this Niamey Summit, the first to physically bring together West African leaders since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS took stock of the political, security and economic situation in the sub-region. They also examined the reports on the state of the Community, the regional security action plan, the ECOWAS monetary cooperation programme and the Covid-19 situation. Leaders in the West African region also spoke of the Malian crisis in which their organization has been heavily involved, going so far as to set an ultimatum to the leaders of the military junta to accelerate the transition to a return to constitutional legality.