The West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS), an initiative of the Chairman of ECOWAS, the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, has received a major boost following a high-level engagement in Abuja between President Julius Maada Bio, and leading African business leader and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, who pledged his full support for the landmark regional initiative.

The WAIIS, which is being convened under President Bio’s leadership from 16–18 November 2026, is positioned as a transformative platform to accelerate economic integration across West Africa by mobilizing governments, development partners, investors, and the private sector around a shared agenda for regional growth and prosperity.

The Summit comes at a historic moment as ECOWAS marks fifty years since its establishment in 1975. President Bio has consistently emphasized the need for the region to renew its commitment to economic cooperation, regional integration, and shared prosperity by creating stronger regional markets and expanding opportunities for trade, investment, and industrial development.

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Convened under the theme, “Powering Regional Integration through Energy Trade, Strategic Minerals, Agribusiness and Digital Transformation,” WAIIS seeks to unlock investment opportunities and strengthen economic cooperation across West Africa by advancing four interconnected strategic pillars: energy trade and industrial growth, strategic minerals and natural resource development, agribusiness and food systems transformation, and digital transformation and connectivity. Together, these priority sectors are expected to drive regional competitiveness, accelerate industrialization, strengthen food security, expand access to energy, and position West Africa as a more integrated and attractive destination for investment.

A key architect of the Summit framework and Special Envoy for the Summit, Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, highlighted the Summit’s ambition to move beyond dialogue by generating investment frameworks, analytical reports, and a pipeline of bankable regional projects capable of attracting significant public and private capital.

According to Dr. Yumkella, WAIIS will serve as a platform for forging strategic partnerships, facilitating public-private collaboration, and identifying priority investments that can drive industrialization, food security, energy access, and digital connectivity across the ECOWAS region.

Against this backdrop, Tony Elumelu’s endorsement represents a significant milestone for the Summit. As one of Africa’s most influential investors and a leading advocate for entrepreneurship and private sector-led development, his support sends a strong signal of confidence in the vision and potential of WAIIS.

Mr. Elumelu praised President Bio’s leadership and the Summit’s focus on practical economic transformation through regional cooperation and investment. He further affirmed his readiness to support WAIIS financially and to actively mobilize leading African private sector titans to support the Summit and the follow-up activities in order to translate policy frameworks into real investments and economic impact.

His commitment is expected to enhance the Summit’s visibility and credibility among investors, development finance institutions, and business leaders across Africa and beyond, while reinforcing the critical role of the private sector in advancing regional integration and sustainable economic growth.

As preparations gather pace, WAIIS is emerging as one of the most ambitious regional investment platforms in West Africa, with the potential to align political leadership, private capital, and development priorities around a common vision for a more integrated, competitive, and prosperous region.