From the BBC:
“West
African bloc approves historic exit of military-run states”
Leaders of the
West African regional grouping, Ecowas, have approved the withdrawal of three
countries ruled by the military from the bloc, but have offered a six-month
grace period for them to reconsider. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger plan to
withdraw from Ecowas in January after refusing the bloc's demand to restore
democratic rule. This is the first time any country has left Ecowas since it
was established in 1975 to improve economic and political integration in West
Africa. The three departing countries were founding members so this is a huge
blow to what was Africa's most developed trade grouping.
Citizens of
all Ecowas countries currently have the right to live and work in all member
states, while goods can circulate freely.
Ecowas has not
yet said whether it will impose restrictions on people and goods coming from
the three departing states, who have formed a new grouping, the Alliance of
Sahel States (AES, from its French acronym). The Ecowas Commission in Abuja has
been mandated to work out such issues, and how the two blocs should work
together in future. Over the weekend, the AES announced visa-free travel and
residency rights for Ecowas citizens. Their leaders said this decision had been
taken in the spirit of friendship, and to strengthen centuries-old ties among
African people. However, the three countries are poor and landlocked, so most
migrants move from them to the richer, 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 transitional period of six months. In the
period between 29 January and 29 July 2025, the trio can be readmitted to the
bloc should they decide to rejoin the community, a communique from Ecowas
noted. In the meantime negotiations led by Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye
Faye and Togo's Faure Gnassingbé will continue.
So far the
military juntas have refused to remain in the bloc despite efforts to persuade
them.
After a
ministerial-level meeting on Friday in Niger's capital, Niamey, the three
states said in a joint statement that their decision was
"irreversible". Their withdrawal would be a major blow to regional
unity and efforts to boost economic and security cooperation. At the opening of
the summit, Ecowas commission head Omar Touray said their "impending
exit" was "disheartening", but he wanted to "commend the
ongoing mediation efforts", AFP news agency reported. With their planned
departure, the bloc will lose 76 million of its 446 million people and more
than half its total geographical land area.
In a
statement, AES chairman, Mali's military ruler Assimi Goïta, said the right of
Ecowas citizens to "enter, circulate, reside, establish and leave the
territory" of the new bloc would be maintained. His statement was seen as
a signal to Ecowas leaders that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger wanted to maintain
good relations, despite quitting the bloc. The three states gave notice to
Ecowas in January 2023 that they would withdraw in a year, meeting the timeline
set by the bloc for states that decide to leave. Relations between the bloc and
the three countries have been tense after military coups took place in Niger in
July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020. Ecowas condemned the coups, and
suspended their membership, hoping they will restore civilian rule. But the
coup leaders dug in their heels, and have pivoted towards Russia. They accuse
Ecowas of being too close to Western powers, and are increasingly relying on
Russia to fight armed jihadists who are waging an insurgency in the region.
^ The Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has to do this if they want to show what
they stand-by in terms of their core principles.
ECOWAS was
established in 1975 and has 15 Member Countries (including the suspending
Countries or 11 Member Countries without the suspended Countries) with a total
population of 387 Million People.
I doubt these
suspended Countries will return to a Democracy in the time period stated. ^
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