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Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali quit ECOWAS
Prime Minister of Niger, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and Prime Minister of Mali Choguel Kokalla Maiga walk as they attend a sit-in in Niamey, Niger, December 29, 2023. REUTERS/Mahamadou Hamidou/File Photo
On Sunday, the military regimes of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger declared their departure from the West African bloc ECOWAS. In a statement, the three Sahel nations announced that their exit from the Economic Community of West African States was a “sovereign decision” to be executed “without delay.”
The three juntas have had tense relations with ECOWAS since the coups in Niger in July of last year, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Mali in 2020, were suspended from ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali subjected to severe sanctions.
The three military regimes cited insecurity when seizing power and ousting their elected governments. However, all three countries have grappled with increased poverty and attacks by extremist groups, killing thousands, with al-Qaeda and Isis-affiliated groups operating across their territories, displacing millions. Mali in particular, has reportedly lost control of over a third of its territory to the jihadist insurgents.
In September last year, these regimes formed a mutual defence pact called “Alliance of Sahel States.” The juntas’ demanded France to withdraw its military forces from the Sahel, raising concern about the potential southward expansion of conflicts to Gulf of Guinea states such as Togo, Benin, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.
On Thursday, the prime minister appointed by Niger’s military regime criticized ECOWAS for “bad faith” after the bloc cancelled a meeting in Niamey citing an airplane issue. The same criticism ECOWAS had afforded Niger’s junta the months following the coup, attempting to negotiate the release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family, who remains a hostage to this day.
ECOWAS repeatedly offer to negotiate lifting sanctions on condition Niger’s junta grant safe passage to President Bazoum and his wife. On January 8, Salem Bazoum, the president’s son, was released after over five months under house arrest.
