Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agree on a grace period for ECOWAS withdrawal Politics news

ECOWAS hopes to use this time to persuade the three countries to remain in the bloc.

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

The decision, reached at the summit of the main West African political and economic group at the weekend in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, was seen as a last-ditch attempt to dissuade the three countries from leaving, a move that the union has so far been unable to stop. . Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger reiterated that their decision to leave was “irreversible.”

The three countries, located in the insurgency-torn Central Sahel region, have formed their own group called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The new effective departure date has now been extended to 29 July, although 29 January will remain the official withdrawal date. The bloc hopes to use the six-month transitional period to convince countries to return.

The three countries announced on Saturday that their territories will remain visa-free for all ECOWAS citizens after exit. The move eased fears that their departure could threaten freedom of trade and movement for 400 million people living across the region.

Among those attending the summit was Senegalese President Basserou Diomaye Faye, who served as a mediator between the 15-member bloc and the three countries set to leave.

The Senegalese president, who was appointed to lead negotiations in July, said he was “making progress” in the talks with the three countries, and added that there was no reason why they could not maintain relations amid ongoing security concerns in the region, where Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have gained ground. (ISIS) Earth.

The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS will mark the culmination of a turbulent period for the Sahel, where a series of coups since 2020 has brought military authorities to power. The new governments have fostered closer relations with Russia at the expense of its former colonial ruler, France, and other allies from the region and beyond.