China has completed the reconstruction of the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, in a project valued at approximately $32 million.
The project, which was fully funded and executed by the Chinese government as a grant, was undertaken at no cost to ECOWAS. The newly reconstructed headquarters is expected to be formally handed over to the regional bloc in February 2026.
The completion of the ECOWAS headquarters adds to China’s growing portfolio of large-scale public infrastructure projects across Africa, particularly in the area of government and multilateral institutions. Reports indicate that since 2000, Beijing has financed the construction or renovation of nearly 200 government buildings and complexes on the continent.
Notable examples include the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, completed in 2012 at an estimated cost of $200 million, as well as the headquarters of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), also in Addis Ababa, which reportedly cost about $80 million.
Other prominent Chinese-funded projects include Zimbabwe’s parliamentary building, estimated at $200 million, and Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration complex, constructed at a cost of approximately $20 million.
The ECOWAS headquarters project underscores China’s continued engagement with African regional institutions through infrastructure support, a strategy that has become a defining feature of its diplomatic and economic relations with the continent over the past two decades.
