Accra: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reached out to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, to collaborate on addressing existential security and humanitarian threats in the region.
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, emphasized the importance of a pragmatic approach towards the three breakaway nations. He noted the potential reputational damage that a permanent separation could inflict on both ECOWAS and the AES. Dr Musah reiterated that ECOWAS is a community of citizens united by historical, geographical, and cultural ties, while also being a rule-based organization committed to principles and norms agreed upon by its member states.
Dr Musah made these remarks during a keynote address at the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) High-Level Policy Dialogue held in Accra. The event, organized in collaboration with the Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network and the Conflict Research Network West Africa, aimed to explore innovative frameworks to address emerging challenges in West Africa within the context of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993 and the evolving geopolitical landscape.
The dialogue addressed the need for strategies to reintegrate Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger into the ECOWAS fold. Dr Musah recounted that during the 66th Ordinary Summit on December 15, 2024, the ECOWAS Authority acknowledged the withdrawal of the three countries from the community but left open the possibility of their reintegration by July 29, 2025. President Diomaye Faye of Senegal, along with President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, has been tasked with encouraging these nations to return.
Dr Musah also highlighted ongoing efforts by ECOWAS leaders, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria and President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, to engage with the AES countries. Furthermore, the ECOWAS Authority has decided to allow citizens of the three nations to continue enjoying privileges under the Protocol on Free Movement, while preparing contingency plans for negotiations regarding the nature of their separation from the community.
Mrs Levinia Addae-Mensah, the Executive Director of WANEP, emphasized the significance of the dialogue amid unprecedented challenges facing West Africa. She pointed out the region’s growing fragility, the influence of external geopolitical actors, and persistent threats such as violent extremism, unconstitutional changes of government, and worsening humanitarian crises, which demand urgent and innovative responses.