West African bloc approves historic exit of military-run states

Leaders of the West African regional grouping, ECOWAS, have approved the three military-ruled countries’ exit from the bloc, but offered them a six-month grace period to reconsider.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger plan to withdraw from ECOWAS in January after rejecting the bloc’s demand to restore democratic rule.

This is the first time that a country has left ECOWAS since it was established in 1975 to improve economic and political integration in West Africa.

The three departing countries were founding members so it is a major blow to Africa’s most developed trading group.

Citizens of all ECOWAS countries currently have the right to live and work in all member states, while goods can circulate freely.

ECOWAS has not yet said whether it will impose restrictions on people and goods coming from the three departing states, which have formed a new grouping, the Alliance of Sahelian States (ASS).

The ECOWAS commission in Abuja has been mandated to work on such issues and how the two factions should work together in the future.

Over the weekend, ASS announced visa-free travel and residence rights for ECOWAS citizens.

Their leaders said the decision was taken in the spirit of friendship and to strengthen the age-old ties between the African people.

However, all three countries are poor and landlocked, so most migrants move from them to the wealthier, coastal countries of West Africa.

ECOWAS leaders meeting in Nigeria on Sunday said they respected the three Sahel countries’ decision to leave but offered a six-month transitional period.

An ECOWAS release said that in the period between January 29 and July 29, 2025, all three could be readmitted to the bloc if they decide to rejoin the community.

Meanwhile, talks will continue under the leadership of Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé.

So far the military juntas have refused to remain in the faction despite efforts to persuade them.

The three states said in a joint statement after a ministerial meeting Friday in Niger’s capital, Niamey, that their decision was “irreversible.”

Their withdrawal would be a major blow to efforts to promote regional unity and economic and security cooperation.

At the opening of the summit, ECOWAS Commission head Omar Touré said his “imminent exit” was “disappointing” but he wanted to “commend the ongoing mediation efforts”, news agency AFP reported.

With their planned departure, the bloc would lose 76 million of its 446 million people and more than half of its total geographic land area.

In a statement, Mali’s military ruler Assimi Goita, president of the ASS, said the rights of ECOWAS citizens to enter, circulate, reside, establish and leave the new bloc’s territory would be upheld.

His statement was seen as a signal to ECOWAS leaders that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger want to maintain good relations despite leaving the bloc.

The three states gave notice to ECOWAS in January 2023 that they would withdraw in one year, meeting a deadline set by the bloc for states deciding to leave.

Relations between the bloc and the three countries have been strained following military coups in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.

ECOWAS condemned the coup and suspended their membership, expecting them to restore civilian rule.

But the coup leaders dug in their heels and turned towards Russia.

They accuse ECOWAS of being too close to Western powers, and relying on Russia to fight armed jihadists waging an insurgency in the region.