By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ahead of their exit from the regional bloc, military-ruled West African states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have unveiled visa-free travel and residency rights for citizens in the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
They are due to take their final exit from the bloc in January after refusing to heed ECOWAS’ call to return their respective countries to civilian rule following military coups between 2020 and 2023.
The military leaders of the three countries said the visa and residency decision had been taken in the spirit of friendship and to strengthen centuries-old relations among African people.
After a ministerial-level meeting on Friday in Niger’s capital, Niamey, the three states said in a joint statement that their decision was “irreversible.” The trio were founding members of ECOWAS in 1975.
With their planned exit, ECOWAS will lose 76 million of its total population of 446 million.
This is in addition to over half of its total geographical land area.
This is the first split in ECOWAS since it was formed.
The three breakaway states have also gone ahead to form their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States.
In a statement, the new alliance’s chairman, Mali’s military ruler Assimi Goïta, said the right of ECOWAS citizens to “enter, circulate, reside, establish and leave the territory” of the new bloc would be maintained.
This might be an indicator that despite their exit, the three may want to maintain good relations with the bloc.
They had in January 2023 notified ECOWAS of their intention to quit in one year, in line with the timeline set by the bloc for states that decide to leave.
Relations between the bloc and the three countries have been tense after military coups took place in Niger in July 2023, Burkina Faso in September 2022, and Mali in 2020.
ECOWAS condemned the coups and suspended their membership, hoping they would restore civilian rule.
ECOWAS leaders have, however, expressed fear that their exit would be a major setback to regional unity and efforts to boost economic and security cooperation.
At a summit in Nigeria, ECOWAS Commission head Omar Touray said their “impending exit” was “disheartening,” but he wanted to “commend the ongoing mediation efforts.”
