Blue Economy Initiative: A Sustainable Strategy for ECOWAS Economic Restructuring and Development Amidst the Emergence of Confederal Sahel States

The African Union recognized in its agenda 2063 that the blue economy is Africa’s future. The blue economy ensures food security, job creation, earth ecosystem preservation, and economic growth as necessary conditions for global peace and security. West Africa’s coastal industries, fisheries, cities, and ports account for more than 55% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The presence of China and the recent incursion of Russia into West Africa’s political space have altered the colonial and neo-colonial legacies and present to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) the opportunity to renegotiate her economic future. The aim of the study is to review the ECOWAS blue economy initiative as a pathway for West Africa’s sustainable economic growth and development amidst the emergence of Confederal Sahel States. The documentary research method was adopted for the study. Leveraging the theory of Sustainalism and the concept of win-win, the study discovered that the emergence of Confederal Sahel States, which fragmented ECOWAS, was driven by the search for greater sovereignty and concludes that the new structure can contribute to the region’s socio-economic growth.