West African states approve exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger happymamay

Leaders of the West African regional group ECOWAS agreed to the withdrawal of three military-ruled countries from the bloc, but offered them a six-month grace period to reconsider.

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

This is the first time a country has left the ECOWAS group since its founding in 1975 to improve economic and political integration in West Africa.

The three departing countries were founding members, so this is a major blow to what was considered the most developed trading bloc in Africa.

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

ECOWAS has not yet announced whether it will impose restrictions on people and goods coming from the three departing countries, which have formed a new grouping, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES, from its French acronym).

The ECOWAS committee in Abuja has been tasked with resolving such issues, and how the two blocs will work together in the future.

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

Their leaders said that this decision was taken in the spirit of friendship and to strengthen centuries-old relations between African peoples.

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

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

A statement from ECOWAS noted that between January 29 and July 29, 2025, the trio could be readmitted to the bloc if they decide to rejoin the community.

Meanwhile, negotiations will continue under the leadership of Senegalese President Basserou Diomaye Faye and Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé.

Until now, the military council has refused to remain in the bloc, despite efforts to convince them.

After a ministerial-level meeting on Friday in Niamey, Niger’s capital, the three countries said in a joint statement that their decision was “irreversible.”

Their withdrawal would be a strong blow to regional unity and efforts to enhance economic and security cooperation.

At the opening of the summit, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray said the “imminent exit” was “discouraging,” but he wanted to “commend the ongoing mediation efforts,” Agence France-Presse reported.

With their scheduled departure, the bloc will lose 76 million of its 446 million population and more than half of its total geographic territory.

In a statement, the association’s president, Mali’s military governor Assimi Goita, said the right of ECOWAS citizens to “enter, move, reside, establish and exit the territory” of the new bloc will be preserved.

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

The three countries notified ECOWAS in January 2023 that they would withdraw within a year, adhering to the timetable set by the bloc for countries that decide to leave.

Relations between the bloc and the three countries became tense after the military coups that took place in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Mali in 2020.

ECOWAS condemned the coups and suspended its membership, hoping they would restore civilian rule.

But the coup leaders stuck to their guns and turned toward Russia.

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