Côte d'Ivoire has reached a crucial milestone in regional air transport integration. The country has been elected to the inaugural chairmanship of the ECOWAS Economic Air Transport Supervisory Committee (ECATEOC) . This election took place during the body's first official meeting, held on July 2nd and 3rd, 2026, in Lomé, Togo.

A leadership born from Ivorian reforms

According to the ECOWAS Commission press release, this distinction recognizes Abidjan's concrete efforts. Côte d'Ivoire is indeed praised as the first member state to have fully transposed into its national legislation the community decision aimed at eliminating certain taxes on air transport.

The major advances of the Lomé meeting

To operationalize the common policy on civil aviation charges and taxes, participants validated several strategic tools:

1. Adoption of a regional implementation strategy and action plan.
2. Validation of internal regulations and a monitoring and evaluation framework.
3. Official activation of the Community economic supervision mechanism.

The key objective: To harmonize national policies to offer the people of West Africa more affordable, competitive and fully integrated air transport.

Strong mobilization of industry stakeholders

The opening of the proceedings was ensured by Damtien L. Tchintchibidja (Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, representing President Omar Alieu Touray), alongside Comla Kadjé , Togolese Minister of Transport.

The meeting brought together a wide range of experts and key institutions:

1. The directors general of the civil aviation authorities and the ministerial officials of the Member States.
2. International and continental organizations: ICAO , CAFAC , IATA , and AFRAA .
3. Technical and financial partners: BAGASOO and BIDC (ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development).

By aligning with the ambitions of ECOWAS's Vision 2050 , the new Committee is committed to leading a coordinated reform of West African airspace to boost the economy and regional connectivity.