West African Military Leaders Prepare to Exit Ecowas Regional Bloc

Leaders of the west African regional grouping Ecowas approved the long-awaited withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from the bloc in December. The three countries have been granted a six-month grace period from January 29, when their exit becomes official.

They originally announced their intention to leave in January 2024, a few months after formalising their own regional alliance by signing the Liptako-Gourma Charter. This established what is now known as the Alliance of Sahel States or Alliance des États du Sahel, AES.

The AES are all led by the country’s military, following a series of coups across Africa’s Sahel region since 2020. This wave of military takeovers has earned the region its reputation as the “coup belt” and has drawn widespread international condemnation about the erosion of democratic governance. Yet the coups and their military leaders are supported by many citizens within these countries who see them as liberating forces.

In a joint statement released in January 2024, the AES outlined several reasons for their decision to withdraw. These included sanctions imposed by Ecowas in response to the coups, accusations that Ecowas member states are influenced by foreign powers, and a lack of support for combating terrorism in the region.

Ending French influence also appears to have been a key factor behind the coups and the withdrawal from Ecowas. Some leaders from the AES, such as Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traoré, have framed their actions as part of a broader struggle to reclaim national sovereignty and stop the neo-colonial exploitation of their countries natural resources.

These leaders, as well as some commentators, believe that the heads of many civilian governments in west Africa have been puppets for foreign interests. This sentiment is echoed beyond the AES. Other former French colonies in Africa like Senegal, Chad and the Ivory Coast have demanded the removal of French military forces from their countries.

French president Emmanuel Macron sparked further anti-French sentiment in the region on January 7. In a speech at the Elysée Palace in Paris, Macron said that countries in the Sahel would not still be sovereign nations had French forces not intervened against militants.

The leaders of Chad and Senegal accused Macron of “arrogance”, with Senegalese prime minister Ousmane Sonko asserting that France has “neither the capacity nor the legitimacy” to ensure Africa’s security and sovereignty.