Liberian lawmaker demands stronger powers for ECOWAS Parliament, financial backing for women entrepreneurs

A Liberian member of the ECOWAS Parliament, Moima Briggs-Mensah, has called for legislative reforms to transform the regional assembly from an advisory body into a fully empowered parliament capable of passing binding laws and approving regional budgets.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 2026 Second Extraordinary Session and Parliamentary Seminar of the ECOWAS Parliament in Accra, Ghana, Ms. Briggs-Mensah expressed frustration over the legislature’s limited authority, arguing that elected representatives must have a direct voice in setting regional policies rather than serving in an advisory capacity to appointed executive bodies.

She warned that the inability of the parliament to enforce its resolutions hinders efforts to address critical socio-economic challenges across West Africa, including climate-induced displacement, cross-border security, and regional economic integration.

Key proposals outlined by the lawmaker include:

• Legislative and Budgetary Reform: Autonomy for the ECOWAS Parliament to initiate, adopt, and enforce regional legislation, alongside direct oversight and approval powers over the ECOWAS annual budget.
• Proactive Climate and Environmental Protection: Development of unified, regional frameworks to mitigate the impact of climate change, specifically protecting vulnerable populations such as women, smallholder farmers, and cross-border traders from flooding and crop failure.
• Targeted Support for Women-Led Enterprises: Establishment of dedicated ECOWAS grant schemes and concessional financing through the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECO-FEPA) to shield women-led cooperatives from high commercial interest rates and improve intra-regional trade packaging and market access.
• Context-Specific Regional Governance: Prioritization of intra-regional trade before external exports, combined with a call for West African nations to tailor regional policies to local realities rather than reproducing foreign administrative models.

Ms. Briggs-Mensah urged the ECOWAS Commission and the Council of Ministers to implement parliamentary recommendations, stressing that strengthening parliamentary authority is essential for delivering tangible benefits to West African citizens.