Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s military governments have declared their immediate resignation from the Economic Community of West African States, on Sunday.
The leaders of the three Sahel states signed a statement stating it was a “sovereign decision” to quit ECOWAS “without delay”.
The governments, 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 ECOWAS, with Niger and Mali facing severe sanctions.
In recent months, they have strengthened their views and formed a “Alliance of Sahel States”.
A French military retreat from the Sahel, an area bordering Africa’s Sahara desert, has raised fears 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 dictatorship chastised ECOWAS on Thursday for “bad faith” after the group mainly avoided a planned meeting in Niamey.
Niger had hoped for a chance to resolve disagreements with ECOWAS member nations, which had cold-shouldered Niamey by imposing severe economic and financial sanctions following the military coup that deposed elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
cc: Punch Ng
