{"id":117801,"date":"2025-04-23T08:39:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T07:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=117801"},"modified":"2025-04-23T08:39:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T07:39:42","slug":"niger-mali-burkina-fasos-exit-top-agenda-as-ecowas-meet-in-accra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/niger-mali-burkina-fasos-exit-top-agenda-as-ecowas-meet-in-accra\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso&#8217;s Exit Top Agenda as ECOWAS Meet in Accra"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Myke Agunwa<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The unexpected exit of Sahel countries including Mali, Niger Republic, and Burkina Faso will be given a priority during the meeting of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) slated for Accra, Ghana on Wednesday.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Recall that the three countries abandoned ECOWAS after the bloc placed various sanctions on them following a military take over. As a result, they formed a new bloc known as Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and have imposed a levy on ECOWAS member states, thus\u00a0 disrupting free trade in the region.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The bloc, however, said that it has decided to \u201ckeep ECOWAS\u2019 doors open,\u201d and requested member nations to continue to accord the trio their membership privileges, including free movement within the region with an ECOWAS passport.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">A statement issued on Tuesday on the Commission website stated that the modalities of the countries\u2019 withdrawal and the potential implications for the bloc\u2019s institutions operating within those states has been of great concern to the region.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe bloc will also address other related matters of regional importance,\u201d it added.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The meeting coincides with ECOWAS golden jubilee celebrations in Accra.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Established on May 28, 1975, in Lagos, Nigeria, ECOWAS was created to promote economic integration and cooperation among West African countries.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Its founding members aimed to create a single, large trading bloc that would foster collective self-sufficiency, enhance development, and improve living standards across the region.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, the bloc began to make notable impact\u00a0 in 2020 when a series of military coups swept through member states undermining the its cohesion and democratic principles.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The critical turning point came with coups in Mali (2020 and 2021), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger Republic (2023), which led to these countries being suspended and subjected to sanctions due to their military takeovers and deferral of democratic elections.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The situation escalated when, in July\u00a0 2024, the military juntas of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their decision to irrevocably turn their backs ECOWAS.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">They accused ECOWAS of imposing \u201cinhumane and irresponsible\u201d sanctions and failing to address their internal security crises.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">This unprecedented move marked the first time in ECOWAS\u2019s history that member states sought to leave the organisation.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">After nearly a year of mediation efforts to prevent disintegration with little success, ECOWAS officially approved an exit timeline for these three coup-hit nations spanning January to July this year.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Myke Agunwa The unexpected exit of Sahel countries including Mali, Niger Republic, and Burkina Faso will be given a priority during the meeting of Economic Community of West African&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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