The question of leadership of intergovernmental organizations in Africa has received inadequate attention in public discourse. The West African bloc ECOWAS has far-reaching prescriptions on how the organization’s top leadership should be constituted, but the provisions have often not been strictly observed. Politics and personal factors usually get in the way.

Numerous initiatives have been set up to catalyse development in Africa over the decades. One of the oldest is the Economic Commission for Africa established by the UN over 50 years. There is hardly any evidence of ECA’s impact. It needs revamping.