The West African nations of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have announced their decision to leave the regional bloc ECOWAS. They claim that the bloc has imposed “inhumane” sanctions and moved away from its founding ideals. The countries have formed a defense pact called the Alliance of Sahel States and have turned to Russia for security support. This withdrawal creates uncertainty for the bloc’s regional integration efforts.
Since then, the three countries have formed a defense pact called the Alliance of Sahel States which commits each to come to the other’s aid, in defense of its territorial integrity, from internal and external aggression. They have also cut military and cooperation ties with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for security support.
France’s decision to withdraw troops from the Sahel — the region along the Sahara Desert across Africa — has increased worries over conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo.
Struggling with jihadi violence and poverty, the autocratic rulers have argued that their priority is to establish security before restoring democracy in their respective countries, which struggle to contain insurgencies linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State.
In the statement, Niger junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said that ECOWAS “notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity.”
The trilateral decision of the countries to withdraw from the organization delivers a blow to its regional integration efforts, creating uncertainty on how this exit will impact the bloc, where goods and citizens move freely.
According to the bloc’s treaty, member states wishing to withdraw must give a written one-year notice. Until then, the countries must continue to abide by the treaty provisions.
The three countries are also members of the eight-nation West African Monetary and Economic Union, UEMOA, that uses the West African CFA franc pegged to the euro.
