Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agree to a grace period on the withdrawal of ECOWAS Political Affairs

The Economic Community of West African States hopes to use this time to convince the three countries to stay in the bloc.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger will have a six-month grace period following their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), scheduled for January 29, a year after the countries announced their intentions to leave.

This decision, which was reached at the conference of the largest political and economic group in West Africa this weekend in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, was seen as a last ditch effort to stop the three countries from leaving, a move that the organization has not been able to stop so far. . Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger reaffirmed that their decision to leave “cannot be reversed”.

The three countries, located in the central Sahel region attacked by rebels, have established a group called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The new effective date has now been extended to July 29, although January 29 will still be the official withdrawal date. The bloc hopes to use the six-month transition period to convince countries to return.

On Saturday, the three countries said their territories will remain visa-free for all ECOWAS citizens after the withdrawal. The move has eased concerns that their move could threaten free trade and movement of the 400 million people living across the region.

Among those who attended the conference was the President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who has been a mediator between the 15 members and the three countries that are about to leave.

The president of Senegal, who was appointed to lead the talks in July, said that he is “progressing” in the talks with the three countries and added that there is no reason for them not to maintain relations amid ongoing security problems in the region, where al- IQaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have found a base.

The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS will mark the end of a turbulent period in the Sahel, where a series of coups since 2020 have put military authorities in power. The new governments have strengthened close ties with Russia at the expense of their former colonial power, France, and other former allies in the region and beyond.