Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are on the verge of finalizing their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a bloc they helped establish nearly five decades ago.
This decision, culminating in the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), represents a significant challenge to the vision of a unified and cooperative West Africa. The departure, scheduled for January 2025, comes after the countries rejected Ecowas’s demands to restore democratic governance.
The AES however, has offered an olive branch to ECOWAS members, allowing its citizens the rights to live and work across AES states, while goods circulate freely under the bloc’s agreements.
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While the leaders of the bloc have provided a six-month grace period for the Sahel nations to reconsider their exit, the announcement marks a significant blow to ECOWAS, one of Africa’s most integrated regional organizations.
The departure of these three founding members of ECOWAS, established in 1975 to foster economic and political integration, underlines a major shift in West Africa’s regional politics. Together, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger account for over half of ECOWAS’s geographical land area and 76 million of its 446 million citizens.
While AES leaders frame their exit as a necessary pivot to sovereignty and regional security, many view it as a step backward for West Africa’s collective goals of economic unity and political stability.
However, to allay fears that their exit will harm political and economic growth of the region, the leaders of the three Sahel nations have sought to reassure the bloc of continued goodwill. AES Chairman and Mali’s military ruler, Assimi Goïta, emphasized that visa-free travel, residency rights, and the right of entry for ECOWAS citizens would remain intact within the AES.
The three nations, heavily reliant on neighboring ECOWAS coastal states for trade, risk significant isolation. Most migrants from these Sahel countries move to richer coastal economies, highlighting their dependence on the economic engine of ECOWAS.
The Back story: The Rise of Military Rule
The seeds of discord were sown with a series of military coups that toppled democratic governments across the Sahel. In 2020, a coup in Mali ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, citing corruption and the government’s failure to address a growing jihadist insurgency.
Two years later, Burkina Faso followed suit, with the military overthrowing President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré under similar pretenses. The coup wave reached Niger in 2023, with soldiers seizing power and deposing President Mohamed Bazoum.
In each case, Ecowas swiftly condemned the takeovers, suspended the countries’ memberships, and imposed sanctions in an attempt to restore civilian rule. However, the juntas, buoyed by public support and regional solidarity, resisted. For the new military leaders, the sanctions became a rallying cry against what they perceived as undue interference and a reflection of ECOWAS’s alleged allegiance to Western powers, particularly France and the United States.
The Sahel leaders have accused ECOWAS of aligning too closely with Western powers, particularly France and the United States. This growing rift denotes broader geopolitical competition in the region, as Russia positions itself as an alternative ally for African states seeking to counter jihadist insurgencies.
Russia’s involvement, through private military contractors like the Wagner Group, has deepened, with some Sahel nations attributing military gains against jihadists to Russian support.
In Mali, the military junta expelled French forces and welcomed Russian military contractors, including the Wagner Group, to combat jihadist insurgents. Burkina Faso and Niger soon followed suit, citing the need for more effective security partnerships.
The Birth of the Alliance of Sahel States
In the aftermath of the Niger standoff with ECOWAS, the three nations announced the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in early 2024. The new bloc was founded on principles of security cooperation, political solidarity, and economic integration.
AES leaders framed the alliance as a necessity in the face of what they described as ECOWAS’s failures. Mali’s leader, Assimi Goïta, declared that the new bloc would “chart its own path” to regional stability and development. Burkina Faso’s junta leader, Ibrahim Traoré, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the need for a Sahel-centric approach to the region’s challenges.
ECOWAS Leaders Extend Olive Branch
Despite the Sahel states’ assertion that their exit is “irreversible,” ECOWAS leaders are working to maintain dialogue. Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Togo’s Faure Gnassingbé have been tasked with leading ongoing negotiations.
During the ECOWAS summit in Nigeria, Commission President Omar Touray expressed disappointment at the impending departures but commended mediation efforts. “This is disheartening,” he said, noting the bloc’s commitment to preserving unity.
The January to July 2025 transitional period has been opened by the bloc so that the Sahel nations can rejoin ECOWAS should they reconsider.