Burkina faso Nijer & Mali officially left West African regional bloc Ecowas..

Three countries under military rule have officially left West African regional bloc Ecowas, after more than a year of diplomatic tensions, The withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is a huge blow to Ecowas, which at 50 years old is considered Africa’s most important regional group…

The split was sparked after the three departing countries refused Ecowas demands to restore diplomatic rule, On Wednesday Ecowas said it would keep its “doors open” to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, even though they have forged ahead with their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES by its French acronym).

What is Ecowas?

Ecowas – which stands for the Economic Community of West African States – was founded in 1975 in a bid to improve economic and political integration in West Africa, Prior to Wednesday’s shake-up, the bloc had 15 members, including states like Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal, Citizens of all Ecowas countries currently have the right to live and work in all member states, while goods can circulate freely.

Why have Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso left?

Relations between Ecowas and the three Sahel countries have been tense since the military seized power in Niger in 2023, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020, After the Niger coup, Ecowas imposed crippling sanctions on the country, such as border closures, a no-fly zone for all commercial flights and the freezing of central bank assets.

Ecowas also threatened to deploy its forces to Niger in order to restore democratic rule, But this hard line merely strengthened the resolve of the three juntas, Mali and Burkina Faso criticised Ecowas’ “inhuman” sanctions and vowed to defend Niger if the bloc intervened militarily, After being suspended by Ecowas, the three states hit back by giving notice last January that they would withdraw in a year, meeting the timeline set by the bloc for states that decide to leave.

How will the withdrawal affect the three countries?

According to the departing countries, they will now experience greater sovereignty and also independence from a force that has a foreign agenda, But analysts say Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso may struggle outside the bloc – these Country are landlocked countries whose economies depend on their West African neighbours.

While Ecowas works out the terms of its future relationship with the three countries, it says it will continue to recognise all passports and identity cards bearing the Ecowas logo held by citizens from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

How will Ecowas be impacted?

Ecowas will lose 76 million of its 446 million people and more than half its total geographical land area, There are also concerns the withdrawal will weaken both regional unity and cooperation in combatting insurgencies, The split “worsens a legitimacy crisis of ECOWAS which has often failed people’s expectations in upholding the rule of law,” Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.