ECOWAS - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Mali political parties request elections after junta shuns transition promise

POLITICAL parties in Mali have requested a time frame for presidential elections after the ruling junta failed to organise polls within a promised 24-month transition back to democracy. Mali has been under military rule since August 2020, the first of eight coups in West and Central Africa over four years, including in its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger. Regional blocs have been trying to negotiate transitions but the interim governments are dragging their feet. Mali's current junta seized power in a second 2021 coup and later promised to take 24 months from March 2022 to restore civilian rule, with a start date…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

West Africa trade will take a hit as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso leave Ecowas

BUSINESS

THE membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has been whittled down from 15 to 12 following the unilateral withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in February. Founded in 1975, Ecowas is one of eight regional economic communities recognised by the African Union to foster regional integration on the continent. Its main objective is to create a single, large trading bloc through economic cooperation. OLIVIER WALTHER, Assistant Professor in Geography, University of Florida Since 1975, Ecowas and its sister organisation the West African Economic and Monetary Union (known by its French acronym, Uemoa) have implemented numerous…

Feb

2024

By FELIX ONUAH

West African bloc lifts sanctions on junta-led Niger

NEWS

THE West African regional bloc said that it would lift strict sanctions on Niger as it seeks a new strategy to dissuade three junta-led states from withdrawing from the political and economic union - a move that threatens regional integration. Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met to address a political crisis in the coup-hit region that deepened in January with military-ruled Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali's decision to exit the 15-member bloc. After closed-door talks, ECOWAS said it had decided to lift Niger sanctions including border closures, the freezing of central bank and state assets, and the…

Feb

2024

By FRANZISCA ZANKER, AMANDA BISONG and LEONIE JEGEN

Free movement in West Africa: three countries leaving Ecowas could face migration hurdles

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FOR Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, a recent decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has thrown up questions about how they will navigate regional mobility in future. Ecowas covers a variety of sectors, but migration is a major one. The bloc’s protocols since 1979 have long been seen as a shining example of free movement on the continent. They gave citizens the right to move between countries in the region without a visa, and a prospective right of residence and setting up businesses. As multidisciplinary scholars, we have previously researched migration governance in west…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Guinea junta temporarily dissolves government, presidency says

NEWS

GUINEA'S self-appointed military leaders have dissolved the government and will appoint a new one, the presidency's secretary general said in a filmed statement. The West African country has been under military rule since a junta seized power in a September 2021 coup. The region's main economic and political bloc, ECOWAS, has been pressuring the junta, one of several in West Africa, to hold elections within an acceptable delay and restore civilian rule. Both parties agreed on a 24-month transition timeline in October 2022. The presidency's secretary general, Amara Camara, unexpectedly announced on Monday that the government had been dissolved. Without providing a…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Junta-led Sahel states confirm plan to form tri-state confederation

NEWS

JUNTA-LED Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger plan to proceed with the establishment of a confederation, the Malian foreign ministry said, as the three countries deepen ties via an alliance that threatens broader West African integration. The neighbours in the impoverished Sahel region announced in January they would quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - a decision the bloc has urged them to rethink, warning of the additional hardships this withdrawal would bring. At a meeting in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou, their three ministers confirmed a joint commitment to withdraw from ECOWAS without delay and continue cooperation under a pact known…

Feb

2024

By JOE BAVIER and BOUREIMA BALIMA

For West African juntas, CFA franc pits sovereignty against expediency

NEWS

DAYS after Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced last month they were quitting the West Africa political union ECOWAS, Burkina Faso's military ruler Ibrahim Traore was already naming his next target: the region's CFA franc currency. "It's not just the currency. Anything that maintains us in slavery, we'll break those bonds," the 35-year-old army captain turned coup leader said in an interview, posted on YouTube. The three countries jointly announced on Jan. 28 they were pulling out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after it pressured them to restore constitutional order following a string of coups. Having…

Feb

2024

By DIADIE BA and NGOUDA DIONE

Three dead in Senegal protests over delayed presidential election

NEWS

THE death toll amid protests in Senegal over the postponement of the presidential election until December has climbed to three, as concerns grow that one of the remaining democracies in coup-hit West Africa is under threat. The announcement of the delay just three weeks ahead of the planned February 25 vote triggered violent clashes on Friday between protesters and police in Dakar and several other cities, in a wave of unrest that many fear will spill over into protracted instability. President Macky Sall has said the delay is necessary because electoral disputes threatened the credibility of the poll, but some opposition lawmakers…

Feb

2024

By CAMILLUS EBOH

West Africa bloc urges Burkina, Niger and Mali not to withdraw

NEWS

THE West African regional bloc ECOWAS pushed junta-led Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali to reconsider their decision to quit the political and economic alliance, it said, warning of the hardships the move would force on their citizens. The three countries' self-appointed military leaders jointly announced on January 28 that they were abandoning the bloc after it pressured them to restore constitutional order following a string of coups. Their departure threatens to further weaken ECOWAS, which has struggled to curtail a retreat of democracy in West Africa that started with a military takeover in Mali in 2020. Its mediation and security council met…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger want to leave Ecowas. A political scientist explains the fallout

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

MALI, Burkina Faso and Niger have sent Ecowas, west Africa’s main political union of 15 countries, a formal notice of their withdrawal from the bloc. The three countries are governed by military rulers who have overthrown democratically elected leaders since 2021. The Conversation Africa’s Godfred Akoto Boafo asked political scientist Olayinka Ajala about the implications of the withdrawal. OLAYINKA AJALA, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Leeds Beckett University Why are Mali, Benin and Burkina Faso withdrawing? The three countries have given three main reasons. First is what they call the “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions” imposed on…