(Abuja) The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting at a summit, warned on Sunday that the region risked “disintegration”, after the creation by the military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina of a “confederation”.
The three countries announced Saturday in Niamey the formation of this “Confederation of Sahelian States”. Their first summit, organized as a challenge the day before that of ECOWAS, puts the latter to the test once again, after the decision earlier this year of Mali, Burkina and Niger to leave the organization.
ECOWAS also faces persistent jihadist violence, funding problems and difficulties in creating a regional force.
The measures that the West African bloc will take in response to the creation of the confederation by the three countries were not known at the end of its summit held in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
But ECOWAS Commission chief Omar Alieu Touray warned on Sunday that the three countries risked “diplomatic and political isolation” and the loss of millions of euros in investments. Their nationals could also need visas to travel to the region, he said, without specifying when the measure might take effect.
The rupture will also worsen regional insecurity and hamper the establishment of a regional force, Mr. Touray added.
“Apart from the many threats to peace and security and the challenges of poverty, our region is also facing the risks of disintegration,” he warned.
“Foreign powers”
The current military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso came to power through coups in recent years and announced in January their joint departure from ECOWAS.
The three countries broke with France, the former colonial power, sending out French troops stationed in their countries.
Niger’s leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, called on Saturday for the construction of “a community far removed from the control of foreign powers.”
He also said the people of the three countries had “irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS”, rejecting calls from the bloc to fall into line.
PHOTO KOLA SULAIMON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Niger’s empty seat at ECOWAS summit
The Sahel countries’ withdrawal from ECOWAS was fueled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating the regional organization and not providing sufficient support for anti-jihadist efforts.
Sunday’s summit in Abuja came after several West African presidents called for the resumption of dialogue.
It is the first such meeting for Senegal’s new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who said in May that reconciliation was possible.
“We must do everything to avoid the withdrawal of the three brother countries from ECOWAS. This would be the worst-case scenario and a great injury to the pan-Africanism that the founding fathers left us,” Mr. Faye declared on Sunday, calling for “initiating appropriate reforms to adapt ECOWAS to the realities of its time.”
Ties between Niger and ECOWAS deteriorated following the July 2023 coup that brought Mr Tiani to power. ECOWAS then imposed sanctions and threatened military intervention to reinstate the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.
Sanctions were lifted in February, but relations remain frosty.
Military force
On the eve of the ECOWAS summit, defence and finance ministers of member countries discussed the financing of a “regional force to combat terrorism and restore constitutional order”, long proposed by the ECOWAS Commission.
Their plan calls for an initial unit of 1,500 men, and one proposal was to eventually assemble a brigade of 5,000 soldiers, at a cost of about $2.6 billion a year.
ECOWAS has launched military interventions in the past, but its threat to do so after the Niger coup has faded.
As the bloc faces regional challenges, Omar Alieu Touray warned that its “financial situation is dwindling.”
Despite reports of disagreement over the possible reappointment of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as ECOWAS president, he will remain in office, ECOWAS announced on Sunday.