The military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have announced their immediate breakaway from the West African bloc Eonomic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
They have rather joined forces in an “Alliance of Sahel States”
The leaders of the three Sahel nations in a statement they issued indicated that, it was a “sovereign decision” to leave the Economic Community of West African States “without delay”.
The regimes have been having fractured ties with ECOWAS since coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020 as they have been Struggling with jihadist violence and poverty.
Three regimes were suspended from ECOWAS with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions but they have maintained their hard-line positions in recent months
A French military withdrawal from the Sahel — the region along the Sahara desert across Africa — has heightened concerns over the conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.
The prime minister appointed by Niger’s military regime on Thursday took a swipe at ECOWAS for “bad faith” after the bloc largely shunned a planned meeting in Niamey.
Niger had hoped for an opportunity to talk through differences with fellow states of ECOWAS but the community had offered the cold-shoulder to Niamey, imposing heavy economic and financial sanctions following the military coup that overthrew elected president Mohamed Bazoum.