Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger pull out from ECOWAS bloc

The military regimes in the three countries of Mali, Niger Republic and Burkina Faso yesterday announced their immediate withdrawal from the West African bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), asserting that it had become a threat to member states.

The move appears to have taken the regional bloc aback and it came after protracted disagreements over military takeover of government in the three countries.

The President Bola Tinubu-led ECOWAS had gone tough on the coup leaders in Niger, asking it to return power to the ousted Presiddent Bazoum, imposing economic sanctions and threatening military intervention. But the military leaders in Niamey did not budge; instead they received the backing of military juntas in fellow ECOWAS countries, Mali and Burkina Faso.

In a statement they issued, the leaders of the three Sahel nations said it was their “sovereign decision” to leave the ECOWAS “without delay”.

Barkina Faso, Mali, Niger are founding members of the bloc in 1975 and were suspended from ECOWAS with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions as the bloc tried to push for the early return of civilian governments with elections.

They said the sanctions were an irrational and unacceptable posture” at a time when the three “have decided to take their destiny in hand” — a reference to the coups that removed civilian administrations.

In the midst of the sanction, the three countries refused to shift their positions and rather joined forces in an “Alliance of Sahel States.

The leaders’ joint statement added that the 15-member ECOWAS, “under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to member states and peoples”.

They also accused the regional body of failing to help them tackle the jihadists who swept into Mali from 2012 and then on to Burkina Faso and Niger.

Under pressure from the military regimes, France has removed ambassadors and troops and watched Russia fill the void militarily and politically.

The French army’s withdrawal from the Sahel – the region along the Sahara desert across Africa – has heightened concerns over the conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.

The prime minister appointed by Niger’s regime on Thursday blasted ECOWAS for “bad faith” after the bloc largely shunned a planned meeting in Niamey.

Niger had hoped for an opportunity to talk through differences with fellow states of ECOWAS which had cold-shouldered Niamey, imposing heavy economic and financial sanctions following the military coup that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

Niger’s military leaders, wrestling with high food prices and a scarcity of medicines, have said they want up to three years for a transition back to civilian rule.

In Mali, the ruling officers under Colonel Assimi Goita had pledged to hold elections in February this year, but that has now been pushed back to an unknown date.

Burkina Faso, which has not been put under sanctions although Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in September 2022, has set elections for this summer, but says the fight against the insurgents remains the top priority.