The Economic Community of West African States once commanded attention for all the right reasons but that narrative has changed since three of its members now ruled by military juntas opted out.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, founding members of the bloc in 1975, have been cleared to leave 11 months after serving notice to Ecowas that they were quitting since an unresolved dispute with the grouping over returning to democratic rule. That decision made at the 66th meeting of heads of state and government in Abuja on December 15 still leaves the ‘door ajar’ for the three dissident states should they decide to rejoin. But this opportunity for a volt-face will only last for six months from January 2025, their official departure date. Meanwhile mediation is still going on led by the Senegalese president in a desperate bid to persuade the junta-led trio to stay and preserve regional cohesion.
President Diomaye Faye and Assimi Goita of Mali, Ibrahima Traore of Burkina Faso and Niger’s Abdourahmane Tchiani speak the same language against neocolonialism and imperialism and this Ecowas hopes provides a platform from which the Senegalese leader can operate from and win them back.
But so far the military men in charge of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been stuck to their gun.
They had first resisted sanctions after seizing power through coups regarded as abominable by Ecowas between 2021 and 2023 and second shutting the door to any idea of returning to the group.
The three nations have since breaking away from Ecowas formed a loose confederation under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES in French) and vowed that their departure from the grouping was irreversible.
They accuse Ecowas leaders of being puppets of France, a former colonial power in the region which is heavily criticised for alleged interference in the affairs of its former colonies in Africa.
With strained relations with the three countries getting from bad to worse, French troops have been expelled.
AES said despite leaving, the free movement of peoples and goods from Ecowas nations will still be allowed in the three countries.
Blow to Ecowas cohesion
By last year Ecowas as a bloc commanded a West African land area of 5,114,162 km2 with an estimated population of over 424.34 million. It was widely regarded as a working experiment for regional economic cohesion demonstrated by the free movement of citizens of member countries. It was widely credited with playing effective roles in returning normalcy to member states after their descent into civil strife. The cases of strife-torn Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s and politically-troubled Gambia and Guinea Bissau in the past couple of years are readily cited.
Founded in 1975 to promote and facilitate a gradual approach toward economic integration among its members, Ecowas also found itself saddled with the responsibility of intervening sometimes militarily to help stabilise fragile political dispensations in the region.
However, the imminent departure of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will be silently felt as a big blow to the image of Ecowas as a cohesive unit of West African nations brought together by a common history and a shared vision for economic advancement. They are leaving with a combined land area of 2,781,392 km2 and 76 million people.
This represents a huge subtraction including a reduced economic potential for the grouping whose strength had been in covering a whole region almost twice the size of Western Europe.
The AES demography still constitutes a big enough trading area for Ecowas to lose.
Aside from being led by military juntas, the three dissident states are landlocked countries needing their maritime neighbours especially for external trade. This will prompt them to forge new relations with individual member countries of Ecowas for access to ports for the importation of goods and services and export of raw materials.
Whatever, the motives AES states and their Ecowas neighbours are condemned by geography to continue interacting even if through a diminished regional arrangement.
The Gambian head of the Ecowas secretariat Omar Alieu Touray summed it up in his speech to a council of foreign ministers meeting in Abuja last week.
”“Recent deliberations have underscored the importance of mediation and dialogue to resolve pressing challenges. As we move forward, let us collectively renew our commitment to achieving sustainable development, promoting integration, and enhancing the well-being of our citizens” he said.
WN/as/APA