Beginning in 2025, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger will no longer be part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
During the 66th regular session of heads of state and government in Abuja on Sunday, Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS commission, made the news. In January of this year, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger declared their intention to immediately leave the ECOWAS.
The three were suspended from ECOWAS prior to the pullout, with severe sanctions imposed on Niger and Mali. But according to Touray, ECOWAS has now scheduled the countries’ departure for January 29, 2025, to July 29, 2025.
The timeline, according to the ECOWAS president, would permit any final diplomatic interventions and mediations. The change follows the military-run administrations of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, describing the move as “irreversible.”
The three countries, in a joint statement, accused ECOWAS of serving the interests of France, their former colonial power and pledged to chart a new path for their citizens.
The announcement precedes a key ECOWAS summit scheduled for Sunday, where regional leaders had hoped to negotiate a resolution to retain the three nations within the bloc.
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