T. S. DENISOVA Candidate of Historical Sciences Institute of Africa, Russian Academy of Sciences (TO MARK THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF ECOWAS) Keywords: ECOWAS, economic integration, political conflicts, regional security, peacekeeping missions, ECOMOG Treaty (the "Lagos Agreement") The Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) was signed on 28 May 1975. Currently, the organization consists of 15 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo (see map). Since the 1990s, the main activity of ECOWAS has been to participate in the resolution of military and political conflicts in the West African region. The establishment of ECOWAS took place during a period of rapid growth in the Nigerian economy. 1 That is why Nigeria, the largest (by population, more than 190 million people) country in West Africa, which in the 1970s experienced an "oil boom" and received huge revenues from the export of "black gold", was the initiator, main sponsor and driving force of integration, and Nigerian leaders set out to solve an ambitious task strengthening the country's status as a regional (and in the future - continental) leader. It is to Nigeria's credit that during the entire period of ECOWAS's operation, despite the gradual decline in oil revenues and periodic economic downturns, the country provided more than 30% of the organization's budget, as well as provided substantial military-technical and material assistance to other member States of the Community, in particular, provided preferential supplies of crude oil to them and petroleum products, sponsored political reforms, provided humanitarian aid, and sent specialists to work in various sectors of the economy.2 Among the most significant financial and economic projects of ECOWAS, which have not yet been implemented for the most part, we can mention the attempt to create a "second" West African currency zone (Gamb ... Read more