Leaders of the West African regional group Ecowas have approved the withdrawal of three military-controlled countries from the region, but given them six months to reconsider.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are scheduled to withdraw from Ecowas in January after rejecting the bloc’s demands for the restoration of democratic governance.
This is a major blow to Africa’s most developed trading group, as the three leaving countries were founding members of Ecowas when it was established in 1975 to promote economic and political integration in West Africa.
Currently, citizens of all Ecowas countries have the right to live and work in all member states, and goods can circulate freely.
Ecowas has not yet said whether it will impose restrictions on people or goods coming from the three breakaway states that have formed a new group, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES, from its French acronym).
The Ecowas Committee in Abuja is tasked with resolving these issues and how the two blocs should work together in the future.
Last weekend, AES announced visa-free travel and residency rights for Ecowas citizens.
Their leaders said the decision was taken in a spirit of friendship and to strengthen the centuries-old bonds between African peoples.
However, because these three countries are poor and landlocked, most migrants move from these countries to the wealthier coastal states of West Africa.
Ekowa leaders who met in Nigeria on Sunday said they respected the decision of the three Sahel countries to withdraw, but offered a six-month transition period.
The Ecowas communiqué states that the trio can rejoin the bloc between January 29 and July 29, 2025, if they decide to return to the community.
Meanwhile, negotiations led by Senegal’s President Bashir Diomai Fay and Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé will continue.
So far, the junta has refused to remain in the region despite efforts to persuade it.
The three countries said in a joint statement after a ministerial-level meeting in Niger’s capital Niamey on Friday that the decision was “irreversible.”
Their withdrawal would be a major blow to efforts to promote regional cohesion and economic and security cooperation.
At the outset of the summit, Ecowas Committee Chairman Omar Touray said he was “disappointed” by the “imminent departure” but wanted to “congratulate the ongoing mediation efforts,” according to AFP. .
The planned withdrawal would result in the loss of 76 million of the region’s 446 million people and more than half of its total geographical area.
Mali’s military ruler, AES chairman Assimi Goita, said in a statement that the rights of Ecowas nationals to “enter, move, reside, establish themselves and leave the territory” of the new bloc will be maintained.
His comments were seen as an indication to Ecowas leaders that they want to maintain good relations despite Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger leaving the bloc.
The three states notified Ecowas in January 2023 that they would leave within one year, meeting the deadline set by the bloc for states that decide to secede.
Relations between the bloc and the three countries have been strained since military coups in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.
Ecowas condemned the coup and suspended its membership in hopes of restoring civilian rule.
However, the coup leaders persistently changed their tune and shifted their focus to Russia.
They accuse Ecowas of getting too close to the West and increasing its reliance on Russia to fight armed jihadist insurgency in the region.
Correction, Dec. 16: This article originally described the trio’s plans as the first breakup in Ecowas. In fact, Mauritania withdrew in 2000 and this line was removed from the story.
