In a joint communique issued from Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey, the heads of state of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have announced the immediate withdrawal of their countries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). 

The three countries said ECOWAS had deviated from its founding principles of brotherhood, solidarity and mutual aid and is currently under the influence of foreign power. 

“After 49 years of existence, the valiant people of Burkina, Mali and Niger note with much regret, bitterness and great disappointment that their Organisation has moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and Pan-Africanism. Furthermore, ECOWAS, under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to its member states and its populations whose happiness it is supposed to ensure,” the communique read. 

The communique criticised ECOWAS for failing to provide adequate support to combat terrorism and insecurity plaguing their nations. 

They also condemned the imposition of what they deemed “irrational and unacceptable” sanctions against member states who “decided to take their destinies into their own hands,” referring to military leaders who seized power through coup in Mali (2020), Burkina Faso (2022) and Niger (2023). 

“Indeed, the organisation has not provided assistance to our states in the context of our existential fight against terrorism and insecurity; worse, when these states decided to take their destiny into their own hands, it adopted an irrational and unacceptable posture by imposing illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions in violation of its own texts; all things which have further weakened populations already bruised by years of violence imposed by instrumentalised and remote-controlled terrorist hordes,” it added. 

The countries had been suspended from ECOWAS following the disruption of civilian leadership by the military. The suspensions have been accompanied by sanctions of economic and diplomatic consequences.

The three regimes accused their civilian predecessors of corruption and inability to tackle the challenges of poverty, terrorism and underdevelopment.

Last December, the countries’ foreign ministers announced that forming a federation is part of their long-term plans.