Written by Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will have a six-month grace period after their scheduled exit from the main political and economic grouping of West African States next month, during which the ECOWAS group will try to convince them to stay, ECOWAS leaders have agreed. Sunday.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit was seen as an opportunity to address the impending withdrawal of the three countries on January 29, a year after they jointly announced that they would withdraw in a retreat from decades of regional integration.
ECOWAS has so far failed to achieve its goal of getting these countries to reconsider, while the three countries in the insurgency-torn Central Sahel region have created their own alliance, sought a closer alliance in defense and other areas, and have discussed abandoning the West African currency. Africa. Union.
While January 29 remains the official date for withdrawal, the actual date for member states to leave has been extended to July 29 – a transition period during which the bloc's mediators will seek to “return the three member states to ECOWAS without bias,” the commission president said. Omar Turay said at the end of the summit.
On Saturday, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso confirmed their decision to leave as irreversible, and jointly announced that their territories would remain visa-free for all ECOWAS citizens after exit.
The move may be an attempt to address warnings that their departure threatens freedom of movement in the bloc and its common market of 400 million people.
Their withdrawal would end a turbulent period for the Sahel region, where a series of coups since 2020 has brought military authorities to power that have fostered closer ties with Russia at the expense of former colonial ruler France and other allies from the region and Africa. elsewhere.
