By Iddi Yire
Accra, April 17, GNA – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has invited the three Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, for cooperation in the security and humanitarian spheres, which are sources of existential threat to the entire Region.
Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, said in adopting a conciliatory and pragmatic approach to the three breakaway countries, ECOWAS was acutely aware of the reputational damage that a permanent split would inflict on both parties.
He stated that ECOWAS was a Community of citizens bound by centuries of solidarity based on historical, geographical and cultural affinity and contiguity.
“However, ECOWAS is a rule-based Community bound by instruments, values and norms that all Member States have freely signed up to, including the Constitutional Convergence Principles for membership,” Dr Musah said.
He was delivering a keynote address at the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) High-Level Policy Dialogue on the theme: “Understanding Geopolitical and Strategic Changes in West Africa: Emerging Challenges and the Future of West Africa,” in Accra.
The event jointly organised by WANEP in collaboration with the Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and the Conflict Research Network (CORN) West Africa, sought to provide a platform for stakeholders to reflect deeply on the innovative frameworks and mechanisms capable of addressing the emerging challenges in West Africa in the medium to long-term.
This was done within the context of relevant Articles of the 1993 ECOWAS Revised Treaty and changing geopolitical and strategic context in the region, and further, to deliberate on the strategies for addressing the concerns of the AES countries, bringing Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger back within the ECOWAS fold.
The dialogue specifically sought to address issues such as what are the innovative frameworks and mechanisms capable of addressing the emerging challenges in West Africa in the medium to long-term within the changing geopolitical and strategic context in the region?
Dr Musah narrated that the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, at its 66th Ordinary Summit on 15 December 2024, formally acknowledged the decision by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from the Community on 29 January 2025, following their earlier decision to do so on 28 January 2024 and in line with Article 91 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty.
He said in taking the decision, the Authority left the door open for their automatic reintegration into the Community, should they have a change of mind by 29 July 2025.
Additionally, the Authority appointed President Diomaye Faye of Senegal to join forces with President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, to pursue dialogue with the three countries with a view to encouraging them to return to the Community.
“As you may be aware, the Chair of the Authority, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria and other Heads of State, notably President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, are pursuing similar engagements to the same end,” Dr Musah said.
Further, the Authority decided to grant the citizens of the three countries the enjoyment of the privileges under the Protocol on Free Movement until further notice, while instructing the Commission to draw up contingency plans for divorced negotiations regarding the nature of rupture (hard or soft), and assets and liabilities between ECOWAS and each of the three countries.
“We stand at a defining moment in the history of West Africa. ECOWAS is at cross-roads. The hurdles ahead are daunting, but with commitment of every West African, particularly citizen agency, to re-imagine ECOWAS by the People, of the People and for the People with a strong sense of solidarity and self-reliance, ECOWAS shall traverse this trying period and emerge as a stronger and more resilient regional organization,” Dr Musah stated.
Mrs Levinia Addae-Mensah, the Executive Director, WANEP, reiterated that the Dialogue had come at a defining moment for the West Africa region, one marked by unprecedented dynamics and waves of uncertainties.
“Our beloved West Africa is confronted with a complex array of challenges that threaten to erode decades of investment in peacebuilding, regional integration, democratic governance, and social cohesion,” she said.
She noted that the increasing fragility and fragmentation within the ECOWAS space, the growing influence of external geopolitical actors, the persistent threats of violent extremism interlinked with kidnapping, banditry, and communal violence, unconstitutional changes of government, shrinking civic space, and worsening humanitarian crises, have collectively created a volatile landscape that demanded urgent and innovative responses.
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