By Kolawole Ojebisi
Three Francophone countries have signalled their intentions to end their membership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) from 2025.
The three countries are Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.
The President of ECOWAS Commission, Alieu Touray, made the announcement on Sunday during the 66th ordinary session of heads of states and governments in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
According to Touray the countries’ exit plan will take exactly six months begining January 29, 2025 and end on July 29, 2025.
The ECOWAS president said the timeframe would allow for last mediations and any diplomatic interventions.
“After deliberations, their excellencies, the authority members of the authority of ECOWAS, heads of state and government, commend the exemplary diplomatic engagement of His Excellency Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, and His Excellency Faure Gnassingbé President of the Togolese Republic, and the diplomatic efforts of the chairman of authority, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other individual member states towards these three countries,” he said.
“The authority takes note of the notification by Bukina Faso, Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger of their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS. The authority acknowledges that in accordance with the provisions of Article 91 of the revised ECOWAS treaty, the three countries will officially cease to be members of ECOWAS from 29 January, 2025.
“The authority decides to set the period from 29 January, 2025 to 29 July 2025 as a transitional period and to keep ECOWAS doors open to the three countries during the transition period.
”In this regard, the authority extends the mandate of President faure Gnassingbé of Togo, and President Faye of Senegal to continue their mediation rule up to the end of the transition period to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS.”
Touray said withdrawal formalities would be launched after the January 29, 2025 deadline.
He said a contingency plan covering various areas would be drawn up.
“The authority directs the council of ministers to convene an extraordinary session during the second quarter of 2025 to consider and adopt both separation modalities and the contingency plan covering political and economic relations between ECOWAS and the Republic of Niger, the Republic of Mali and Burkina Faso,” he said.
The ECOWAS was founded in Lagos, Nigeria in May 28 1975, during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon, to foster the ideal of collective self-sufficiency for its member states.
As a trading union, it is also meant to create a single, large trading bloc through economic cooperation.
Coincidentally, the three countries ending their members were founding members and they severed ties with ECOWAS in the same country it was founded fifty years (50) ago.
