Three West African countries ruled by military leaders announced visa-free travel and residency rights for citizens of the 15-member regional bloc, ECOWAS, before the three countries left the group.
The leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger said that the visa and residency decision was taken in the spirit of friendship and to strengthen centuries-old relations between African peoples.
The trio plans to withdraw from ECOWAS next January after rejecting the bloc's request to restore democratic rule.
Leaders of the group meeting in Nigeria on Sunday said they respected the decision to withdraw but offered them a six-month grace period to reconsider.
A statement issued by ECOWAS indicated that the three Sahel countries could be readmitted to the bloc if they decide to rejoin the group.
During the transitional period between January 29 and July 29, 2025, negotiations will continue under the leadership of Senegalese President Basserou Diomaye Faye and Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé.
Until now, the military council has refused to remain in the bloc, despite efforts to convince them.
After a ministerial-level meeting on Friday in Niamey, Niger's capital, the three countries said in a joint statement that their decision was “irreversible.”
There are fears that their withdrawal would be a strong blow to regional unity and efforts to enhance economic and security cooperation.
At the opening of the summit, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray said the “imminent exit” was “disheartening,” but he wanted to “commend the ongoing mediation efforts,” Agence France-Presse reported.
ECOWAS countries have not yet made any decisions on whether they will allow citizens of the three Sahel countries to live and work within the bloc.
Meanwhile, the ECOWAS Committee in Abuja has been tasked with developing mechanisms for future relations between the two blocs.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger were founding members of ECOWAS in 1975.
With their scheduled departure, the bloc will lose 76 million of its 446 million population and more than half of its total geographic territory.
This is the first split in ECOWAS, with the three separate countries forming their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States.
The head of the new coalition, Mali's military ruler Assimi Goita, said in a statement that the right of ECOWAS citizens to “enter, move, reside, reside and exit the territory” of the new bloc will be preserved.
His statement was seen as a signal to ECOWAS leaders that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger want to maintain good relations, despite their withdrawal from the bloc.
The three countries notified ECOWAS in January 2023 that they would withdraw within a year, adhering to the timetable set by the bloc for countries that decide to leave.
Relations between the bloc and the three countries became tense after the military coups that took place in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Mali in 2020.
ECOWAS condemned the coups and suspended its membership, hoping they would restore civilian rule.
But the coup leaders stuck to their position and turned toward Russia.
They accuse ECOWAS of getting too close to Western powers, and are increasingly relying on Russia to fight armed jihadists waging an insurgency in the region.
