The Financial Group of West African States will on January 29, 2025 start the method for Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to formally withdraw their membership of the regional bloc.
It declared a six-month transition interval lasting till July 29, 2025, inside which it will interact withdrawal protocol.
President of the ECOWAS Fee, Dr Omar Touray, introduced this on the shut of the 66th Bizarre Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Authorities on the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The event follows the elapse of the one-year statutory interval for the reason that three international locations first filed their determination to withdraw.
Article 91 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty mandates that any member state wishing to withdraw should give a proper notification to the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Authorities.
The withdrawal doesn’t take quick impact; as an alternative, the nation is required to attend one 12 months from the date of the discover.
The one-year interval, amongst different causes, supplies time for a withdrawing state to settle monetary and authorized obligations it might owe to ECOWAS or affiliated establishments.
To this impact, Touray introduced, “The authority takes be aware of the notification by Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger of their determination to withdraw from ECOWAS.
“The authority acknowledges that in accordance with the provisions of Article 91 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, the three international locations will formally stop to be members of ECOWAS from January 29, 2025.
“The authority decides to set the interval from January 29, 2025 to July 29, 2025 as a transitional interval and to maintain ECOWAS doorways open to the three international locations in the course of the transition interval.”
The bloc additionally prolonged the mandates of Senegalese President, Bassirou Faye, and Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé who, since June 2024, led ECOWAS’s mediation efforts with the three withdrawing states.
“On this regard, the authority extends the mandate of President for Gnassingbé of a Togo, and President Faye of Senegal to proceed their mediation rule as much as the top of the transition interval to carry the three member international locations again to ECOWAS,” stated Touray, thanking the Presidents for his or her efforts of the previous 12 months.
The ECOWAS Authority additionally instructed the President of the Fee to begin withdrawal procedures after the deadline of January 29, 2025, and to arrange a contingency plan addressing varied sectors.
It additionally mandated the Council of Ministers to convene a unprecedented session within the second quarter of 2025 to deliberate on and undertake the withdrawal framework and contingency plan, which can outline the political and financial relationship between ECOWAS and the Republics of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
Touray defined, “With out prejudice, for the spirit of the opening, the Authority directs the President of the Fee to launch withdrawal formalities after the deadline of January 29, 2025 and to attract up a contingency plan protecting varied areas.
“The Authority directs the Council of Ministers to convene a unprecedented session in the course of the second quarter of 2025 to contemplate and undertake each separation modalities and the contingency plan protecting political and financial relations between ECOWAS and the Republic of Niger, the Republic of Mali and Burkina Faso.”
For his half, Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, who chairs the ECOWAS Authority, recommended its leaders and members for the in-depth discussions held in the course of the summit, emphasising that these deliberations showcased the collective resolve to deal with the challenges dealing with the area.
He urged member states to stay united and dedicated to the rules that outline ECOWAS as a group.
Tinubu suggested, “As we transfer ahead to implement the outcomes of this summit, allow us to stay united in our dedication and steadfast in our dedication to the rules that bind us collectively as a group.
“I name on all member states to redouble their efforts in making certain that call reached right here interprets into tangible profit for our residents. Allow us to carry with us the optimism, perception and resolve which have guided our deliberations and our folks.
“Collectively, allow us to proceed to champion the reason for a peaceable, safe and affluent West Africa to construct ECOWAS as a group of individuals anchored on the beliefs of freedom, justice and democracy, a imaginative and prescient that’s propelled by good governance, that addresses the legitimacy and bonafide aspiration of our folks.”
Acknowledging particular attendees, Tinubu bid farewell to Moussa Faki, who attended his final ECOWAS assembly, as President of the African Union Fee, and prolonged gratitude to outgoing Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, lauding him as “Mr. Democrat” and urging him to stay accessible for steerage.
In January 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger introduced their withdrawal from ECOWAS.
The three nations accused the regional bloc of abandoning its founding beliefs and yielding to exterior influences, criticising sanctions imposed to reverse their respective navy coups.
This withdrawal follows a collection of navy takeovers in Mali (2020 and 2021), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023), which led to their suspension from ECOWAS and strained relations with the bloc.
In response, the withdrawing states fashioned the Alliance of Sahel States, a brand new regional bloc prioritising defence and mutual assist. They’ve additionally distanced themselves from conventional Western allies, notably France, and have sought nearer ties with Russia.
In September 2024, Burkina Faso launched a brand new biometric passport with out the ECOWAS emblem, additional solidifying its withdrawal.
Throughout talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the State Home final Tuesday, Tinubu affirmed that Nigeria would pursue diplomatic options to the political deadlock within the three international locations, making certain harmless residents should not unduly punished for the actions of navy regimes.
As of December 2024, the remaining ECOWAS member states are Benin Republic, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.