The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) warned on Sunday that the region faces potential disintegration and heightened insecurity after junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger expressed intentions to exit the bloc by signing a confederation treaty.
The Alliance of Sahel States treaty, signed on Saturday, highlighted these three countries’ resolve to distance themselves from the 15-member ECOWAS, which has been pressing them to return to democratic governance.
Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS commission, emphasized that the bloc’s key benefits, including freedom of movement and a common market of 400 million people, are at risk if the countries depart. He noted that funding for economic projects worth over $500 million in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger could be halted or suspended.
“Considering these benefits, it is evident that disintegration will not only disrupt the freedom of movement and settlement of people, but it will also worsen insecurity in the region,” Touray stated at an ECOWAS summit in Abuja, Nigeria.
He further explained that the withdrawal of these countries would significantly undermine security cooperation, particularly in intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism efforts.
ECOWAS leaders convened at the summit to deliberate on the implications of the Alliance of Sahel States treaty. The juntas in these states came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023 and have since severed military and diplomatic ties with regional and Western allies.
Touray added that decisions regarding a regional standby force to combat terrorism and the establishment of a regional currency would also be made at the summit.
