Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Southern European Task Force via Flickr.
Elizabeth Murray ’26
Global Section Editor
West Africa’s geopolitical scene is experiencing a major shakeup. In a move that has been compared to the U.K.’s Brexit, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African Countries, or ECOWAS for short, on Jan. 28, Al-Jazeera reported.
The three countries released a joint statement announcing immediate withdrawal and accused the organization of being “under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, [and having] become a threat to its member states and its population,” Al-Jazeera reported.
ECOWAS was created in 1975 and is made up of 15 West African nations.
According to Al-Jazeera, ECOWAS is largely viewed as the most prominent group of political and regional leaders in West Africa. Recently, the organization has faced difficulty in regions where coups have been staged and where citizens feel they are not benefitting from the supply of natural resources.
The three countries have created a group called The Alliance of Sahel States in September 2023 to tackle growing numbers of armed violent groups in the region, Al-Jazeera reported.
The nations have all cut ties with France, their former colonial power, who withdrew their military after the coups. As a result, many coastal West African countries are worried that armed groups’ presence could spread, Al-Jazeera reported.
However, even as France, Nigeria and the United States’ influence in the region has diminished, Russia’s has increased, according to Reuters. In January 2024, Russia and Niger agreed to form military ties. Russian military personnel have also been sent to Burkina Faso to protect the military leader, Ibrahim Traoré. In Mali, the Wagner Group, which Reuters described as Russian mercenaries, has sent 1,000 fighters.
The relationship that Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso had with ECOWAS had been strained for some time, according to Africanews.
All three of the nations that withdrew have experienced military coups between 2020 and 2023, Al-Jazeera reported. ECOWAS suspended them and imposed sanctions on Mali and Niger that have since led to economic hardship.
The three countries issued a formal notice of their withdrawal on Jan. 29. ECOWAS rules state that notice of withdrawal should be given a year in advance, Reuters reported.
ECOWAS responded to the announcement, saying in part that the group “remains committed to negotiating a solution to the political impasse,” BBC News reported.
The African Union has called for a dialogue between the two parties, Reuters reported. The outlet also reported on a statement that the AU released.
“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat learned with deep regret of the announcement of the withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS,” the AU statement reported.
This decision could have serious financial implications for the region, including the disruption of $150 billion a year in trade, according to Reuters.
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are some of the poorest members of the bloc, accounting for 8% of its gross domestic product. 80% of Niger’s trade is conducted with Nigeria and the two nations share a 1500 km border, around 932 miles.
The legal status of nationals from the three countries that have settled in other member states under the bloc's visa-free travel and right-to-work laws has also been brought into question. Ivory Coast alone is home to more than 5 million people from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, Reuters reported. The loss of these populations could potentially have serious economic impacts on the remaining ECOWAS members.