In a dramatic turn of events, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have severed ties with the 50-year-old Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and created their own confederation, formally titled the “Confederation of the Sahel States (AES)”. The breakaway, that was formalized in July this year, stemmed from dissatisfaction with the sanctions following the coups, increasing Western interference, and not enough effort from the ECOWAS. The new confederation aims to work towards regional integration, eradicating terrorism, and creating new alliances, especially with Russia, Turkey, and Iran. However, ECOWAS has suffered a huge blow and is trying its utmost to get the three states to rejoin.
Sahel States Break Away from ECOWAS
In a move that shocked most of Africa, and some parts of the world – especially France – three African countries (namely Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger) broke off from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and have now created their own confederation.
In July this year, the military leaders of all three countries (Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traore, Niger’s General Abdourahmane Tchiani, and Mali’s Colonel Assimi Goita) showcased their confederation treaty, the thought behind which is clear. They will now focus on greater integration between themselves and work towards strengthening each other’s interests. They have also committed to eradicating internal threats (like terrorism) and combatting external interference, mainly from France and the USA.
After setting up their alliance in September 2023, the leaders wanted to solidify their commitment by establishing it as a confederation. This was also a way of announcing to the world that they are no longer interested in ECOWAS, the regional bloc that interestingly had imposed sanctions on them following the coups in the three countries.
The confederation, officially titled “The Confederation of the Sahel States” (also formally termed the AES) is being headed by Mali for the first year, and has a total population of around 72 million.
Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have slowly been weaning off their regional and Western allies, and are looking to partner with an entirely new set of states – i.e. Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
Enough of the West! Enough of the House Slaves!
ECOWAS penalized the three states for not having democratically elected leaders. July 2023 saw Niger’s Tchinai overthrow elected President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup, less than a year after Traore came into power in Burkina Faso and Goita seized power in Mali in 2021. The leaders, however, have ‘had enough’ of the West interfering in their matters.
“Africa is a continent that has suffered and continues to suffer due to imperialists. For them, Africans belong to them, our land belongs to them. They’ve never been able to change their ways”, said Traore.
Traore has also been criticizing African leaders who are being controlled by former colonial powers. Openly calling them ‘house slaves’, he stated:
“Imperialists view Africa as their dominion, believing they own our people, lands, and resources. Since the illusory independence granted to African nations in the 1960s, they’ve installed local proxies to maintain their control. We refer to these proxies as ‘house slaves’ – individuals whose sole aspiration is to emulate and serve their masters”.
He also has openly challenged whoever is working towards the detriment of the three states and stated that “we will be ruthless against whoever attacks us”.
Au Revoir France. Hello New Allies!
Even though France’s brutal and colonial rule officially ended for these three states in 1960, the interference never ended. However, thanks to the coups, Burkina Faso and Mali finally severed their security pacts with France between 2020 and 2022.
Niger had stayed a vital security partner of the French (and even the US) since the country was being used as a military base to combat extremism. However, as with any country that aids the West against terrorism, Niger suffered huge losses, with thousands of their own dead and millions displaced. This was the reason that after the 2023 coup in Niger, French troops were finally asked to leave. Over a thousand US military personnel were also made to leave Niger’s Air Base in July this year, with movements in place to also remove the US military from a nearby drone base near Agadez in central Niger.
The three countries are now looking for new allies, shunning the colonial powers who have been exploiting the region for decades. This includes Russia, who according to Paul Stronski, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Pease, “has taken advantage of Western policy missteps, anti-European sentiments, and long-standing failures of international and local actors to address the root causes of regional instability”.
Moscow is steadily offering its support militarily, while Turkey is also positioning itself as an ally of the Sahel states, competing against Iran and Morocco’s economic, energy, education, and urban planning support.
ECOWAS’s attempts to bring them back
ECOWAS leaders are quite worried about this breakaway and are doing their utmost to bring the three countries back. Along with Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye was sent to the three countries as a special envoy, to try to convince the countries to rejoin the ECOWAS.
According to the head of the ECOWAS commission, Omar Alieu Touray, “Our region is facing the risk of disintegration.”
Former communications director for the ECOWAS, Adama Gaye, stated that “the creation of the three-member Alliance of the Sahel states has ‘weakened’ the economic bloc”. He also went on to discuss how the ECOWAS has not performed well w.r.t. regional integration, intra-African trade in the West African states, or even in ensuring security and stability, and that this was the reason why many in West Africa are now questioning the role of the 50-year-old ECOWAS.
Aleena Im – is an independent researcher and writer and is interested in international relations, current affairs, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
