Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso break ties with ECOWAS over sanctions
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), currently headed by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, received notice of withdrawal of three members- Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso-from the sub-regional bloc.
The ECOWAS had suspended the three African countries from the body’s activities as punishments for their leaders military coups against democratically elected governments.
The leaders of the three Sahel nations on Sunday issued a statement saying it was a “sovereign decision” to leave the ECOWAS “without delay,” AFPÂwrote.
Struggling with jihadist violence and poverty, the regimes have had tense ties with ECOWAS since coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.
All three were suspended from ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions.
They have hardened their positions in recent months and joined forces in an “Alliance of Sahel States”.
A French military withdrawal from the Sahel — the region along the Sahara desert across Africa — has heightened concerns over the conflicts spreading southward to the Gulf of Guinea states Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast.
The prime minister appointed by Niger’s military regime on Thursday blasted ECOWAS for “bad faith” after the bloc largely shunned a planned meeting in Niamey.
