Burkina, Mali, Niger exit –slap in the face of ECOWAS?

The world was greeted with thunderbolt of shock when on Sunday January 28, 2024 three member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) pulled out of the sub-regional body. They are Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all Sahelian states in the block.

A number of factors, ranging from trans-border trade to security matters have come to focus. The formation of ECOWAS in 1975 came to formalise existing cross border trade among these nations and beyond.

These landlocked states have from time immemorial been using their traditional ports in Dakar (Senegal), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Lome (Togo) and Cotounou (Benin) for the movement of goods from the seaports to the respective countries. Lately, the Ghanaian ports of Tema and Takoradi have been added.

Article 125 of the United Nations Convention states that landlocked states have the right of access to and from the sea for the purpose of exercising the rights provided for this Convention, including those relating to the freedom of the high seas and the common heritage of mankind.

On July 26, 2023 a group of soldiers in Niger staged a coup which ousted the democratically elected President Mohammed Bazoum.

The sub-regional body issued a fiat to the junta to reinstate the deposed leader, which bluff the coupe makers called. The Chiefs of Defense Staff of ECOWAS member states met in Accra and declared ‘war’ against Niger.

This declaration rather incensed Burkina Faso and Mali, whose respective junta leader also came under constant threats from ECOWAS. These three states, therefore, formed alliance to defend themselves against any external aggression.

By this time, ECOWAS slapped sanctions against the three states, which had denounced further dealings with their colonial master, France, and opted for Russia. As biting as the sanctions became, the countries never relented in their desire to achieve a common objective, which is self-dependence, by relying on their own natural resources.

Meanwhile, in September, 2023 these countries went ahead to establish an ALLIANCE OF SAHELIAN STATES and proposed a common currency known as Sahel.

To them, the idea of belonging to a body which allows constitutional coup by way of electoral malpractices, but rejects military takeovers is not worth it.

The question now is, if we needed to persuade them to return to our fold as a sub-regional body, do we start by lifting the sanctions or the reinstatement of democratic dispensation or both.

Already, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) in a press release on Monday wants Ghana to by-pass ECOWAS and deal with the three breakaway countries.

Signed by its President, Dr Joseph Obeng, its reads: The withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from the ECOWAS sub-regional block will, in no small measure, hinder the development of the sub-region as an economic block because there can never be progress without unity of purpose.

Therefore, their withdrawal from ECOWAS will  impact negatively on cross border trading activities, especially with Ghana, where we are very much related and intertwined in terms of our economy, history and culture among others.

In fact, Ghana stands to gain immensely when everything is done to bridge our relationship with these countries. There is a list of items that we trade among ourselves such as onions, tomatoes, cola nuts, salt and the list continues.

The exit of the three countries from ECOWAS will cause unnecessary controls at the borders, which will hinder the free movement of people, goods and services within the sub-region.

We should be mindful of the fact that one major reason for the formation of the Regional block is to take advantage of the number of people in the sub-region for the purpose of trading to enhance our economies.

We also know that member states have their own bilateral relations with each other.

Therefore, as a country, the first step or strategy to use is for Ghana to by-pass ECOWAS and rely heavily on the already existing good relationships with the three countries.”

Meanwhile, Security Analyst, Col Festus Aboagye (rtd) is of the opinion that with their departure, the free flow of intelligence sharing will suffer a break and hurt the sub-region.

He was specifically not happy with the infiltration of small arms and weapons and the break in information sharing among the countries of the sub-region must be given a second thought.

At worse, the security expert suggested that without these three states, the body ECOWAS should rebrand to Economic Community of Coastal West African States (ECOWAS), especially knowing too well the present membership of the sub-regional body being coastal countries.

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