Omar Alieu Touray, has been named President of the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) for a four-year term, according to the Commission.
Touray candidacy as the new President of the ECOWAS Commission (2022–2026) was unanimously endorsed by the Authority on July 3 during the 61st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
The Gambia national succeeds Ivory Coast’s Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, whose four-year reign has come to an end.
Touray earned his doctorate in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He also studied Finance and Islamic Finance at Madrid’s IE Business School.
He is a diplomat and development specialist. Prior to joining ECOWAS, he worked for the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.
He was the Gambia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the African Union for numerous years. He served as the country’s Permanent Representative Designate to the United Nations in New York before being named Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
As a consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, United Nations Development Programme Gambia Country Office, and Commission of the African Union, he also served as regional policy advisor at the Regional Bureau for East and Central Africa (ODN) of the United Nations World Food Programme.
Other statutory management appointments made by ECOWAS include Prof. Nazifi Abdullahi Darma as commissioner for internal services, Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah as commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security, Mme. Massandjé Toure-Litse as commissioner for economic affairs and agriculture, Mr. Sédiko Douka as commissioner for infrastructure, energy, and digitalization, and Joao Alage Mamadu Fadiá as auditor-general.
