Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic are set to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2025.
Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, announced on Sunday during the 66th Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government in Abuja.
Touray specified that the countries’ exit would occur between January 29 and July 29, 2025.
He added that the timeline allows for final mediations and potential diplomatic interventions.
“After deliberations, their excellencies, the authority members of the authority of ECOWAS, heads of state and government, commend the exemplary diplomatic engagement of His Excellency Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, and His Excellency Faure Gnassingbé President of the Togolese Republic, and the diplomatic efforts of the chairman of authority, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other individual member states towards these three countries,” Touray said.
He confirmed that the notification from the three countries aligns with Article 91 of the revised ECOWAS treaty, making their withdrawal official as of January 29, 2025. However, ECOWAS has designated the period between January 29 and July 29, 2025, as a transitional phase, during which its doors will remain open for further dialogue and possible reintegration of the three nations.
“In this regard, the authority extends the mandate of President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, and President Faye of Senegal to continue their mediation rule up to the end of the transition period to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS,” Touray added.
Touray added that withdrawal formalities would commence after January 29, 2025, and a contingency plan would be developed to address political and economic relations with the three nations.
“The authority directs the council of ministers to convene an extraordinary session during the second quarter of 2025 to consider and adopt both separation modalities and the contingency plan covering political and economic relations between ECOWAS and the Republic of Niger, the Republic of Mali, and Burkina Faso,” he said.
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