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ECOWAS Leaders Offer Grace Period as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Plan Withdrawal
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) faces a historic shift as leaders of the regional bloc have approved the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—three nations currently under military rule. However, to preserve ties, ECOWAS has extended a six-month grace period, allowing the countries to reconsider their decision.
Founding Members Depart
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, founding members of ECOWAS since its establishment in 1975, announced plans to leave the bloc in January 2025. This decision follows their refusal to comply with ECOWAS’s demands to restore democratic governance after recent military coups in these nations.
The departure of these three countries deals a significant blow to ECOWAS, which has long been a cornerstone of economic and political integration in West Africa. Citizens of ECOWAS member states currently enjoy the right to live and work across borders, with free movement of goods. The withdrawal raises questions about how these freedoms will be affected.
A New Bloc Emerges
The departing states have formed a new alliance, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which has already announced visa-free travel and residency rights for ECOWAS citizens. Leaders of AES emphasize that this decision reflects a spirit of friendship and a desire to maintain long-standing cultural and historical ties across the region.
Despite these assurances, the three nations remain among the poorest in West Africa, and most migration flows traditionally move from these landlocked states to wealthier coastal countries within ECOWAS.
ECOWAS Negotiates a Transitional Period
During a summit in Nigeria, ECOWAS leaders expressed respect for the decision of the Sahel nations but emphasized the hope for reconciliation. They offered a transitional period from 29 January to 29 July 2025, during which the three countries can rejoin the bloc if they choose.
Negotiations, led by Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé, will continue in an effort to mend relations. Yet, the Sahel states maintain that their decision to leave is “irreversible,” as confirmed in a joint statement following a ministerial meeting in Niger’s capital, Niamey.
Challenges Ahead for Regional Cooperation
The withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger poses serious challenges for regional unity. ECOWAS stands to lose 76 million people—a significant portion of its population—as well as more than half of its geographical land area.
In a statement, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray described the impending exit as “disheartening,” but acknowledged the value of ongoing mediation efforts. Meanwhile, AES Chairman and Mali’s military leader Assimi Goïta assured that the right of ECOWAS citizens to move and reside within AES territory freely would remain intact, signaling a willingness to maintain amicable relations.
Underlying Tensions
Relations between ECOWAS and the Sahel states have been strained since the military coups in Mali (2020), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023). ECOWAS suspended the membership of these nations and condemned the coups, demanding a return to civilian rule.
However, the military juntas have resisted these calls and shifted their alliances toward Russia, accusing ECOWAS of being too aligned with Western powers. This geopolitical pivot underscores the deepening divisions within the region.
What Lies Ahead?
As ECOWAS prepares for the formal departure of the Sahel states, the bloc’s leadership is tasked with navigating this unprecedented split. The coming months will determine whether negotiations can bridge the growing divide or if the departure of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will mark a permanent fracture in West African unity.
Mali opposition insists President Keita must resign
Mali’s protest movement has kneeled on with a demand for embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to quit, as international peace keepers tried to defuse the crisis in the conflict-riven country.
At a news conference in the capital Bamako on Friday, the June 5 Movement also insisted that the West African state’s parliament be dissolved, and called for a “republican transition” from the current government.
The movement came during soaring political tensions in Mali, which a delegation from the 15-nation West African regional bloc ECOWAS is trying to calm.
The June 5 Movement has outrage a showdown with the government with relentless demands that Keita resign for his perceived failures in tackling the dire economy and Mali’s eight-year conflict with armed fighters.
Three days of violence between protesters and security forces ensued, leaving 11 dead and 158 injured, according to an official tally, in the bloodiest bout of political unrest in years.
The June 5 Movement – a disparate alliance of political, social and civil-society leaders – has stuck to its core demand and rejected conciliatory gestures from the president.
Source___Aljazeera
At least one killed, 20 others wounded as police fire gunshots and tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters in Mali.
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has said he has launched an investigation into violence committed during a mass anti-government protest on Friday, which saw at least one person killed and 20 others wounded.
Thousands rallied in the capital city Bamako to demand Keita’s resignation over long-running security issues, economic woes and perceived government corruption in the fragile West African state.
The rally was organised by an opposition coalition and is the third such demonstration in two months – significantly escalating pressure on the embattled leader.
Led by influential scholar Mahmoud Dicko, the so-called June 5 movement is channelling deep-seated frustrations in the country.
“We have recorded one death,” said Yamadou Diallo, a doctor in Bamako’s Gabriel Toure Hospital, adding that 20 people had been wounded.
An official from the prime minister’s office also confirmed the death. The circumstances under which people were wounded and one person was killed were not immediately clear.
Source___Aljazeera
Tens Of Thousands Protest In Mali, Seeking for the President to step down
Dozens of people rallied in Mali’s capital Bamako on yesterday to demand the stepping down of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, heeding the call of the country’s newly resurgent opposition.
The 75-year-old president is under extreme force over failures to contain a jihadist insurgency that emerged in northern Mali in 2012 and escalate to the fragile centre of the West African state.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.
On Friday, an imam led tens of thousands of protesters in a prayer in a central city square.
Protesters then sang the national anthem and blew vuvuzela horns, with many toting placards bearing anti-government slogans.
The demonstration follows a similar rally on June 5 organised by a newly-formed coalition of opposition groups.
That coalition has since adopted the name, “Movement of June 5 — Rally of Patriotic Forces.”
Religious leaders coming together and civil society figures, the coalition is channelling deep-seated frustration about the slow pace of progress and continuing bloodshed.
Source___Channels TV
D5 Creation