Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s military administrations have declared their immediate withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
On Sunday, the leaders of the three Sahel nations signed a statement claiming it was a “sovereign decision” to leave ECOWAS “without delay.”.
The regimes, which are struggling with Islamist violence and poverty, have had contentious relations with ECOWAS since coups occurred in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Mali in 2020.
All three were suspended from the regional body, with Niger and Mali facing severe sanctions.
In recent months, they have strengthened their views and formed an “Alliance of Sahel States.”.
A French military retreat from the Sahel, an area along Africa’s Sahara desert, has raised concerns about hostilities moving southward to the Gulf of Guinea republics of Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast.
The prime minister chosen by Niger’s military regime chastised the regional body on Thursday for “bad faith” after the bloc mainly avoided a planned meeting in Niamey.
Niger had hoped for an opportunity to resolve disagreements with ECOWAS member states, which had cold-shouldered Niamey by imposing severe economic and financial sanctions following the military coup that deposed elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
