Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso Insist On ECOWAS Withdrawal Wednesday

After a year of political unrest, Mali, Niger, and Burkinabe are all set to leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), giving the bloc an uncertain future.

On January 29, 2024, the three countries led by military regimes formally notified ECOWAS of their desire for “immediate” withdrawal. However, the West African organization’s texts required a year’s worth of notice before they could begin.

All three countries will attempt to resolve this on Wednesday because they have rejected ECOWAS’ request to extend the time by six months in an effort to solve the issue.

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) is a confederation that now includes Burkinabe, Mali, and Niger.

After the coups that brought them to power, their military rulers claim that ECOWAS has imposed “inhuman, illegal, and illegitimate” sanctions against them.

They also contend that the West African organization hasn’t adequately aided them in battling jihadist violence. ECOWAS, they argue, is subservient to their former colonial ruler France.

These juntas now favor partnerships with nations like Russia, Turkey, and Iran, which has become their common enemy.

– A weakened ECOWAS

The rupture was sparked by the July 2023 coup in Niger. ECOWAS swore to use force in a military coup to reinstate the ousted president and imposed severe economic sanctions on Niamey that have since been lifted.

On Wednesday, the three nations will release a unified army of 5, 000 men to fight the jihadists. They also have announced a new common passport.

According to Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi, the loss of three founding members will “weaken ECOWAS’s ability to regulate political crises in the regional area.”

The AES and some ECOWAS countries are now at loggerheads. Niger refuses to open its border with Benin, which it accuses of hosting bases where jihadists train, while accusing its Nigerian neighbour of “serving as a rear base” to “destabilise” it.

Both nations refute accusations made of their landlocked neighbors.

– Togo, Ghana woo AES –

In the sub-region, the diplomatic cards have been reshuffled, with the role of Togo boosted.

Its port in Lome, which serves as a mediator, also supplies the AES’ landlocked nations.

For Yabi, Togo has a “short-term vision”, based on “calculations of economic interests” that will “weaken ECOWAS”.

The foreign minister of Togo recently stated that it would not consider joining the AES.

We can wonder in what state ECOWAS will be able to survive if it loses a fourth member, like Togo, thanks to maritime access, said Rinaldo Depagne, the International Crisis Group’s (ICG) deputy director for Africa.

According to one diplomatic source, the AES “is trying to persuade other nations that ECOWAS does not work and that they are a trustworthy alternative.” They are aware that they cannot survive alone.

Ghana, under the newly elected President John Dramani Mahama, is also reaching out to the AES. He has met with the bloc’s leaders and made the announcement to designate a new bloc’s envoy.

“The new president does not have the same position of principle towards the coups as his predecessors”, said the ICG’s Depagne.

“Is it possible to be with the AES and ECOWAS at the same time,” says the question.

– ‘ New ECOWAS ‘ –

According to Yabi, the West African bloc must “return to its strictly economic agenda and abandon the principles of law and democracy” in the wake of the rupture.

One former West African minister who has the ear of the Sahelian juntas, “Everyone is aware of the need for ECOWAS reform, towards an ECOWAS of the people.”

He continued, “The AES can function as a laboratory and could continue to be a part of the newly reformed ECOWAS.”

Despite the rupture, said Yabi, we must strengthen relations between the AES and ECOWAS countries, to “preserve economic relations” and face security challenges.

In addition to Mali, Niger, and Burkinabe, jihadist violence has spread to the coastal ECOWAS nations, particularly Benin and Togo, which have seen tens of thousands of fatalities in Mali, Niger, and Burkinabe in the past ten years.

Source: Channels TV