On the eve of the 50th anniversary since it was founded in 1975, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) finds itself shrinking as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced they will leave the 15-nation organisation, Africa’s biggest regional trading bloc.
Sunday’s announcement by the triumvirate is effective immediately.
It follows after the three member countries found themselves increasingly sidelined by the bloc because of military coups and resulting socio-economic instability.
Earlier this month they gave formal notice of their intention to withdraw.
However, hopes remained that internal rapprochement by the Ecowas Commission would secure the bloc’s membership integrity.
A joint communique stated the decision to withdraw formally was because of the influence foreign states were wielding over Ecowas.
The triumvirate claims that alleged kowtowing to external pressure betrays the founding principles of the bloc, threatening the safety and security of the citizenry of member states.
The departing nations furthermore claim that other members are not doing enough to help the three nations combat “terrorism and insecurity” while imposing illegitimate, inhumane, illegal and irresponsible sanctions on the three.
Earlier, the regional body suspended the three nations following military takeovers in Mali (2020 and 2021), Burkina Faso (2022) and Niger (2023).
The Commission responded to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger’s decision, saying it remains committed to “finding a negotiated solution to the political impasse”.
The remaining members of Ecowas are Benin, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The latest GDP readings of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, are $19.8 billion, $19.7 billion and $14.7 billion, respectively, or seen together, $54.2 billion, a figure that represents 7.4% of Ecowas estimated combined GDP of $734.8 billion.
More recently, Ecowas’s GDP was estimated to be around $816.4 billion.
As an unchanged 15-member bloc its GDP was projected to have more than tripled by 2043 to an estimated $2.846 trillion, equivalent to an increase of 248.6% over the next 20 years as per Unctad data from 2023.
