Why have Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger quit the Economic Community of West African States? | DW News

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, said Sunday they are leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) immediately.

All three countries, which were founding members of ECOWAS in 1975, are currently led by militaries that seized power from civilian leaders.

"After 49 years, the valiant peoples of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger regretfully and with great disappointment observe that the (ECOWAS) organization has drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Pan-Africanism," Colonel Amadou Abdramane, Niger junta spokesman, said in a statement.

The three countries were suspended from ECOWAS following the coups, and relations between them and the regional bloc have deteriorated for months.

"The organization notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity," Abdramane added.

Last year, they withdrew from an international force known as the G5 that was set up to fight Islamists in the Sahel region, forming their own so-called Alliance of Sahel States (AES).


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