Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has taken on a new leadership role as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, stepping into the position previously held by Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The announcement came during the 67th Ordinary Session of the regional bloc, held Sunday in Abuja, Nigeria. Bio will serve in the rotating role for the next year.
A former Brigadier General, President Bio briefly led Sierra Leone’s military government in 1996 before entering civilian politics. He was elected president in 2018 and secured a second term in 2023, following a highly contested election.
His appointment comes at a particularly delicate time for ECOWAS. In addition to political unrest back home—including claims of attempted coups and the self-imposed exile of his predecessor, former President Ernest Bai Koroma—Bio now leads a bloc grappling with internal divisions.
Currently, four of the 15 ECOWAS member states are governed by military regimes. The recent exit of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—who have formed their own coalition, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—has only deepened tensions within the region.
President Bio will now have the task of navigating a fractured West Africa, with unity and cooperation hanging in the balance.
Meanwhile, former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who was also in attendance at the summit, has since returned home.
