Junta withdraws from West African summit

ABUJA – A summit of West African leaders opened on Sunday amid political turmoil after military rulers from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso broke away from an alliance at a meeting of rivals.

The three countries announced they would form a new federation, and their defiant first summit on the eve of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was another test for the regional bloc they split from earlier this year.

ECOWAS is facing widespread jihadist violence, financial difficulties and the challenge of rallying regional forces.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso adopted a treaty in Niamey on Saturday to create the “Alliance of Sahel States,” and it is unclear how the splintered bloc will respond.

But Omar Allieu Touré, chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, said the three countries risked “political isolation” and could lose millions of dollars in investment.

A break in the talks would also exacerbate the security situation and hamper the work of a long-proposed regional force, he said before the EU began a closed-door meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

“Our region is at risk of being torn apart,” he warned.

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Military governments in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso came to power through a series of coups in recent years and jointly announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS in January this year.

They have broken away from former colonial ruler France and expelled French troops, with Nigerien General Abdulrahmane Tiyani calling for a “community free from the yoke of foreign powers”.

“Our people have irreversibly turned their backs on ECOWAS,” Tiani said on Saturday, rejecting the group’s entreaties to return.

The Sahel countries withdrew from ECOWAS in part because they accused Paris of manipulating the group and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.

Several West African leaders have called for a resumption of dialogue, with Sunday’s summit being the first attended by Senegal’s new President Basilou Diomaye Faye, who said in May that reconciliation was possible.

Niger’s relations with ECOWAS deteriorated after Tiani came to power in a coup in July 2023, when ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger and threatened military intervention to restore the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to power.

Sanctions were lifted in February, but relations between the two countries remain strained.

military force

Ahead of the ECOWAS summit, defence and finance ministers have been studying funding for “the creation of a regional force to combat terrorism and restore constitutional order,” the ECOWAS Commission said.

The strategy calls for an initial force of 1,500 troops, with one proposal for a brigade of 5,000 soldiers at a cost of about $2.6 billion a year.

ECOWAS has launched military interventions in the past, but its threats after the coup in Niger were unsuccessful.

As the EU grapples with regional challenges, Touré warned that the bloc is facing a “dire financial situation.”

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may be reappointed as ECOWAS Chairman, according to reports, but the appointment has also sparked disagreements.

“While some countries want him to stay because of some crises facing the region, Francophone countries want the seat,” Nigerian President Bayo Onanuga’s media adviser told AFP.

Several Francophone countries sent their foreign ministers to Sunday’s summit instead of their leaders.

Benin’s foreign minister told AFP that President Patrice Talon would not attend the meeting “for scheduling reasons”, denying there was a dispute and saying Talon supported Tinubu’s re-election.