At the beginning of a conference on Sunday in Abuja, Nigeria, the head of the ECOWAS commission, Oumar Touray, stated that the signing of a confederation treaty by the three Alliance of Sahel States (AES) puts the area at risk of disintegration and increased insecurity.
The juntas’ resolve to leave the nearly 50-year-old ECOWAS was highlighted by that pact, which they signed after cutting diplomatic and military links with Western nations in favor of closer relations with Russia.
“The Authority expresses disappointment with the lack of progress in engagements with the authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and instructs the President of the Commission to facilitate a more vigorous approach,” ECOWAS stated in a communique issued on Monday.
As for the AES, however, ECOWAS would “develop a forward-looking contingency plan” that addressed every scenario.
Between 2020 and 2023, juntas in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali overthrew their governments through a series of coups.
As it fights to limit a ten-year war with Islamist rebels and develop economies that are among the world’s poorest, it is unclear how closely the AES will coordinate political, economic, and defence objectives.
Their departure might make things weaker The freedom of movement and the bloc’s 400 million-person shared market, according to ECOWAS and Touray, were in jeopardy.
Senegalese and Togolese presidents were tasked with negotiating with the juntas in an effort to get their countries back into the bloc, while ECOWAS re-elected Nigerian President Bola Tinubu as chairman for an additional year.
The decision to mobilize a 5,000-strong regional counterterrorism standby force was authorized by the ECOWAS leaders. The force would begin with a brigade of 1,650 men and grow over time.
Member countries are expected to fund the force and will also approach the African Union for financial support.
