A crack in the structure of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
The Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or CEDEAO, which includes 15 member countries in West Africa, held an extraordinary session in Abuja, Nigeria on February 8, 2024. This extraordinary meeting of the Mediation and Security Council at the ministerial level brought together the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence from the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and discussed political and security issues in the ECOWAS countries space, which was established in 1975 to promote economic integration. Burkina Faso and Niger
From this organization, the issue of the triple withdrawal was added to the issue of the democratic situation in Senegal due to the postponement of the presidential elections as a result of President Macky Sall addressing the Senegalese people in a decree canceling his decision on Decree 2283/2023 on November 29, 2023 on a presidential election commission scheduled to be held on February 25, 2024, which provoked the anger of most sectors of Senegalese society. In the open session, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tudjjar said in his remarks: “Our meeting here today shows us the opportunity to carefully assess the challenges of the decision of the military rulers of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to arbitrarily withdraw from ECOWAS with all the implications for the lives of their people. Climate change, violent extremism, migration and organized crime to name a few.”
However, the issue of the tripartite withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger remains the most dangerous for the Economic Community of West African States. This withdrawal announced by the military leaders of the three countries on January 28, 2024 may lead to a rift that widens with time due to some political repercussions in West Africa and some bilateral differences between the countries of the community. A withdrawal that the three countries demanded to be immediate – in violation of the law establishing the Economic Community of West African States – a regional bloc where the three withdrawing countries represent 15% of the population of the economic community. The impact of the withdrawal of the Sahel Alliance of States (AES), which includes these three countries, on the gross domestic product of ECOWAS is very small, confirming the bloc’s stability and adaptability in the face of regional dynamics. However, this move may put an end to decades of brotherhood that existed in the regional bloc.
Therefore, on 30 January 2024, the African Union issued an official notice published on its website calling for dialogue between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and three member states – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The African Union, which supports ECOWAS’s efforts to restore democracy, deeply regretted the withdrawal announcement and stressed the need for cooperative efforts to preserve ECOWAS unity and strengthen African solidarity. In an official statement published on his website, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also called for intensifying dialogue between the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the three countries, and expressed the readiness of the African Union to assist in this process.
On January 29, 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger officially notified the ECOWAS Commission of its decisions to withdraw. In accordance with the provisions of the ECOWAS Treaty, member states wishing to withdraw must provide one year’s written notice and this means that the actual exit from the 15-member bloc may take some time, which may allow room for negotiations.
In any case, after the failure of their repeated calls to return to the bloc, the three countries formed in September 2023 a coalition known as the “Sahel Alliance” in an effort to help each other against potential threats of armed rebellion or external aggression, following the threat of invasion by the three withdrawing ECOWAS, especially Niger, which after the coup of July 26, 2023, in which ECOWAS suspended all commercial transactions with it, froze its assets in the regional central bank, as well as the assets of the state and government institutions in commercial banks, and suspended all Financial aid with regional development banks. That’s not all: the regional central bank also canceled a bond issue worth 30 billion CFA francs ($51 million) to Niger in the West African regional debt market. In addition, Nigeria cut off energy supplies to the country on the 80 MW Bernin-Kibbi line, while Côte d’Ivoire suspended imports and exports of Nigerian goods, and a similar trade and financial embargo was imposed on Mali and Burkina Faso equally in response to coups.
In response to the violent attitude of ECOWAS, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso formed in September 2023 an alliance among themselves, and this alliance said in the agreement, which also obliges the three countries to work to prevent or settle armed rebellions within them: “Any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracting parties will be considered aggression against the other parties,” the coalition said in the agreement, which also obliges the three countries to work to prevent or settle armed rebellions within them: “Any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more of the contracting parties will be considered aggression against the other parties,” Malian military commander Assimi Goïta said on his social page: “I signed today with the heads of state of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Jorma Pact to establish the Sahel alliance with the aim of establishing a framework for collective defense and mutual assistance.” About three months later, the prime ministers of the three countries at a joint press conference in Niamey, the capital of Niger, affirmed their commitment to a common future. “From now on we say Whether you are from Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso, we have the same fate, and Burkina Faso Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kilim de Tambella said at the press conference: “We will enter together.” “It is up to us to control our own destiny.” In their own estimation, ECOWAS acted in bad faith by removing them from the organization, of which they were all founding members in 1975, and said that ECOWAS had “deviated from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Africanism”.
Some civil society organizations in the ECOWAS space have raised concerns about the withdrawal of the three countries from the organization. In a letter addressed to the Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of State, Nigerian President Paula Tenobo Civil society organizations said that the withdrawal of these countries poses a direct threat to the cooperative efforts required to combat regional security challenges. Specifically, Mali and Niger are crucial in the fight against terrorism and insurgency due to their geographical location and the nature of security threats. “These countries, especially Mali and Niger, play a crucial role in the fight against terrorism and insurgency due to their geographical location and the nature of cross-border security threats,” the letter said, in part: “Their exit from ECOWAS not only weakens the regional security framework but also leaves Nigeria more vulnerable to spillover instability and terrorist activities from these neighbouring countries.”
The three countries that withdrew and were faced by external pressures (France, the United States and the European Union) with violent reactions and not gradual by the ECOWAS, and the ECOWAS group did not try to assess and appreciate the fragile and alarming internal conditions within these withdrawing countries, which reflected on the ability of the coups to restore the internal balance in each of them. The rulers who turned against them were subordinate rulers and agents of the outside and corrupt and in the end they do not have a popular base supporting them, so no one cried over them except the colonial power. Like the case of France with Niger’s President Bazoum, in Mali, for example, which became the first country hit by the wave of coups that continued to spread across West Africa. The planned transition to a democratically elected government collapsed in 2022 after the August 2020 coup that overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The military then installed a civilian government in the hope of holding elections within two years scheduled for February 27, 2022. Even months after the second strike, Malian Prime Minister Shojil Maiga called the February 2022 deadline unrealistic and said, “It’s better to have a few more weeks or even a few more months” rather than another post-election crisis like the one that led to the fall of President Keita. Since then, the length of the transition period has changed several times. At the end of December 2021, after a “national consultation”, Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goïta, proposed extending it for five years. The three junta-led countries have repeatedly argued that they want to restore security ahead of elections as they struggle to deal with the jihadist insurgency linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State in their respective countries. Niger’s military leaders have said they want a government for up to to three years to transition to a democratically elected government Burkina Faso captain Ibrahim Traoré, who ousted Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henry Sandaogo Damiba in September 2022, initially said he wanted to respect this timetable but later changed his mind and said when asked about holding elections a year later: “It’s not a priority I’ll tell you clearly security is the priority.”
ECOWAS Commission Chairperson Touray said on 5 February 2024 that there is no real basis for the reasons given by countries to withdraw their membership in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and added that they did not consider the repercussions of this decision on their citizens, adding: “The hasty decision to withdraw membership from ECOWAS did not take into account the conditions for withdrawal of membership from ECOWAS as stipulated in the revised ECOWAS Treaty of 1993.” While some observers respond to this tripartite withdrawal to the complaints of the three governments against the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is due to their consideration that the economic and financial sanctions imposed by the European Union on Mali and then Niger in the wake of the military coup in these two countries are “illegal, illegitimate and inhumane” and that these sanctions were imposed at the instigation of “foreign powers”, the other reason for the withdrawal is that the Economic Community of West African States has stopped supporting their war against terrorism and insecurity, and relations have deteriorated. Between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since the coups in Mali (2020 and 2021), Burkina Faso (2022) and Niger (2023) when the group began to talk about military intervention (at French instigation) and the threat of suspension of membership and the imposition of sanctions, Nigeria began to cut off the electricity supply to Niger, and there was no consensus or ability to intervene militarily, but the group was able to reach a decision to suspend the membership of these countries in the Economic Community of West African States, which led these three countries to establish the Alliance of Sahel States in September 2023. The threats of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against Niger are completely counterproductive, as the military governments of three African countries that deposed all their Western-backed leaders in recent years signed an agreement on September 16, 2023 stipulating that they would assist each other individually or collectively in the event of any external aggression or internal threat to their sovereignty. According to this tripartite agreement, “any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracting parties will be considered an attack on the other parties.” This tripartite agreement comes after Paris was forced to withdraw its troops from Mali after tensions with its military government in 2020 and earlier this year France also withdrew from Burkina Faso after the country’s military rulers ordered it to leave. This tripartite agreement also comes against the backdrop of the coup leaders in Niger’s cancellation of military agreements that allowed French forces to fight jihadists in the Sahel region, giving the former colonial power (France, which promotes, amplifies and sometimes cultivates). Terrorism to justify its stay in West Africa) only one month to withdraw its 1,500 troops, but France ignored this ultimatum as well as the demand for the departure of its ambassador, justifying this position by refusing to recognize the authority of the new leadership, but Colonel Amadou Abderrahmane, spokesman for the government in Niamey, said in a statement broadcast on television that “France continues to deploy its forces in several countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the framework of preparations for the aggression against Niger, which it plans in cooperation with the ECOWAS” .
The withdrawal decision taken by Niger, Burkina Faso and landlocked Mali lie within the Sahel-Sahara region, the vast semi-arid region of Africa that separates the Sahara Desert to the north and the tropical savannah to the south. In short, these countries need a well-structured political structure and good strategic development policies along with modern technology to accelerate the SDGs as set out in the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
ECOWAS will lose at least 45 billion CFA francs annually in community contributions annually following the tripartite withdrawal decision and stop paying their contributions, according to an estimate announced on February 4, 2024 by Burkinabe Minister in charge of Economy and Finance Aboubacar Nakanabo that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and after the withdrawal, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger established on September 16, 2023 what they called the Alliance of Sahel States to defend each other and promote development. Speaking of his country, he explained that Burkina Faso’s withdrawal from the group The economic of West African countries will have little impact on their foreign trade mainly due to their weak trade with the member states of the Economic Community of West African States and outside the West African Union and that: “Our exit from the Economic Community of West African States in terms of the impact on foreign trade is not large enough He pointed out that the ECOWAS area includes 15 member states, including 8 countries within the West African Monetary Union (UMOA) including Burkina Faso Exports in 2023 reached 14% with the ECOWAS area, including less than 3% with non-West African countries such as Ghana, and the IMF has entered the crisis line within ECOWAS, so we find it as if it were a discovery that warns of an economic shock in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso after the withdrawal of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and adds: The withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) may lead to higher trade costs and escalating potential security risks. The withdrawal from ECOWAS may impede the free movement of goods, services and people across borders, affecting economic growth and regional trade relations. The withdrawal of the three countries from ECOWAS casts a shadow over the banking sector in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Larger regional banks may weather the storm. Local subsidiaries expect a decline in asset quality and profitability. Necessary impact on ECOWAS’ overall financial transaction However, economic stability may continue in the three withdrawing countries.
The IMF raised the red flag to Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in a sign of a possible economic blow after the withdrawal of these three countries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Non-tariffs, which leads to increased costs for companies and consumers, has highlighted the Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund highlighted the negative effects on these landlocked countries, pointing out that the exit will lead to high trade friction and high transaction costs, which is a harmful situation for the economies of these countries in addition to that the departure or affiliation of the Economic Community of West Africa may lead to the intensification of security challenges in the CEDEAO space and perhaps to isolate the alliance, which poses economic and security risks, The words of the Director of the African Department of the IMF are true to some extent, especially since the Economic Community of West African States did not leave enough space to prevent the violent reaction issued by it, especially when dealing with apparent roughness in the case of the Niger coup with French payment, until it came to direct confrontation, which is almost devoid of diplomacy, and it ended up that the imposition of ECOWAS strict sanctions and even the threat of the use of force, The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed in principle in December 2022 in the Nigerian capital Abuja to establish a regional force aimed at intervening not only against jihadists, but also in the event of coups such as those witnessed in the region in the last two years, and according to a senior official in ECOWAS, the establishment of this regional force comes against the backdrop of the inability of national armies to contain the expansion of jihadists and the large number of coups in the region. (The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was determined to intervene militarily in Niger if the military council that took power in Niger did not meet the demands formulated by the organization at the end of the summit held in Abuja on Sunday, July 30, 2023, but let us remember the case of Sierra Leone, the ECOMOG forces of the ECOWAS countries and the ECOWAS monitoring group formed by African ECOWAS forces could not confront the forces of the United Revolutionary Front led by Foday Sankoh, so it has become clear that the African organization It is no longer an effective framework for addressing the conflicts that bloody the black continent, and it was a failed experience, but there was another successful one, as the Ecomog force was able at the time to prevent Liberian President Charles Taylor from seizing Monrovia, which led to the end of the war through negotiations and holding elections instead), and in the current case regarding the Niger coup, tension continued until the Economic Community of West African States said on February 8, 2024 that the decision of the three member states: Mali, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger withdrew their membership in the bloc for no real reasons and the decision to withdraw will have a negative impact on the citizens of the three countries.
There is a critical impact following the decision to withdraw tripartite from the ECOWAS, as the three countries that formed the Sahel Alliance or (Alliance des États du Sahel (AES) may take a more serious decision in my opinion, but this time it is directed at France in particular and will cause its economy a significant collapse and weaken it very weakly. On February 11, 2024, in an interview with Niger National Television, Nigerian General Abdirahman Tiani, head of the ruling military junta in Niger, indicated that the three countries in the Sahel alliance are considering abandoning African Financial Union franc without providing further details and the possibility of creating a common currency with Burkina Faso Referring to the CFA franc, he said that “the currency is a step out of this colonialism”, the general went on to say that Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – three former French colonies that currently meet together within the alliance of Sahel States – “have [financial] experts.” “The currency is a sign of sovereignty” and the AES countries “are engaged in the process of restoring their full sovereignty,” stressing: “There is no longer any doubt that our countries are the cash cow of France.”
However, the Nigerian leader did not provide details on the possibility of timing this decision or when the future new currency would be put into circulation. The idea of leaving Frank CFA and issuing a common currency is automatically followed by withdrawal from the UEMOA bloc, the monetary organization responsible for the CFA franc and criticized by the three withdrawing countries as a new tourist currency. If Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali really decide to create a new common currency, the next logical step may be – as I have indicated – to withdraw from UEMOA and an organization or bloc that has also imposed economic sanctions against these three countries.
It is important to note that the situation is changing rapidly and subsequent developments could lead to geopolitical change in West Africa due to the complexity of relations between political, economic and monetary issues in the region with potential repercussions on political stability and regional alliances.
In general, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) is still thinking about creating a common currency for these three countries, and it is even said that this new currency can be called the “Sahel”, and it is important to know that in the midst of the crisis between the Economic Community and the Alliance of Sahel States, the biggest problem is not in the West African Economic and Monetary Union but in the behavior of the Central Bank of West African States, which has already frozen all Nigerian treasury accounts.
Commenting on the possibility of the three countries in question taking the decision to issue an alternative currency for the CFA franc, French monetary expert Olivier Vally, technical adviser to the International Monetary Fund for the West African Economic and Monetary Union countries, who was based in Bamako and worked in Niamey, said: “It is possible that the three countries of the New Sahel Alliance (AES) will decide to separate from the CFA franc and the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) but without leaving the customs area of the Western Economic and Monetary Union. Africa (UEMOA), (Cameroonian businessman William Ilong confirmed in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) and Jeune Afrique on January 12, 2024 that “80% and perhaps even 90% of young Africans think we need to get rid of the CFA franc) Therefore, the three countries of the Sahel Alliance are based in their thinking on liberation and salvation from the captivity of the CFA franc, through which France sucks the wealth of the countries of the CFA franc area, which have long expressed their desire for this salvation and which Guinea (franc) has rejected. French colonies in Africa) during the era of the late President Ahmed Sekotori in 1958 and issued a national currency called Cele and put on one of its denominations the image of Ghanaian President Kwame Nikromma, which provoked the anger of de Gaulle, who does not know why some in our Arab world and in Egypt imagine a hero, a colonial figure thought does not embrace the values of justice and fairness unless they are for the benefit of France, But it is important to point out that the decision to replace the CFA franc with a national local currency is undoubtedly a costly and difficult decision, but it is necessary to stop the French looting of the capabilities of these three countries and others, and some may see that such a revolutionary decision is unnecessary, as the CFA franc currently has two important characteristics: (1) it provides monetary stability and then (2) it has convertibility, which makes it a desirable asset by businessmen and traders who do not care much about differences. However, the CFA franc may be a safe haven for Nigeria and Ghana due to the collapse of their Naira and Sidi currencies in recent years, and notes that following the Mali and Niger military coups the leaders of ECOWAS decided to block their access to the regional central bank and the financial market by establishing the monetary union and later ECOWAs allowed Mali to regain access but the acceptance of Niger remains prohibited.
Appreciation:
The rift that occurred in ECOWAS was the result of French diplomatic pressure exerted on this grouping, France pushed ECOWAS to impose several sanctions on Niger, the uranium depot that France has been exploiting for more than 45 years at a low price and supplying more than 48 nuclear reactors to generate power for France. The late President Mamadou Tandja requested in 2009 to review the contracts for the exploitation of the AREVA Group, most of which is owned by the French state due to the low price of supply, so France only orchestrated a military coup in 18 February 2010 Led by a submerged junior officer Then elections were held a year later and power was handed over to a member of the French influence called Mamadou Issofou, who maintained the stability of the prices of supplying Niger uranium and even made available the territory of his country for French military intervention and allowed the establishment of French military bases and 3 American bases for drones, and the French army became in control of the tool of governance in Niger and the loyal officers were angry and angry at the French influence, so it was the coup of July 26, 2023, which the ECOWAS gathering wanted to thwart its efforts and punish it for liberating Niger In my opinion, this mistake committed by the ECOWAS grouping by siding with the French and the European Union in the dispute with the leaders of the Niger coup who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, a student of former President Mamadou Issofou Al-Najib in his employment for the French, Americans and Russians as well, cost the ECOWAS gathering to cause a big crack that may lead to other cracks for the ECOWAS that may lead to its disintegration. Investigate the causes of the coup – and in fact – know with certainty that the president is not sorry Bazoum open the territory of Niger to the French and others to Istihtha and the various armies of the West to recolonize Niger with a very important geographical location in central Africa and the heart of the Sahara, has cost ECOWAS identification with the approach of the West in dealing with the coups of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which all came out of the hands of the French and Americans the occurrence of this crack, which portends other cracks may occur, especially with the formation of coup leaders in countries The three alliance on September 26, 2023, called the Alliance of Sahel States, may be joined by some countries that may separate or exit the ECOWAS, but the leaders of the new alliance must warn against the accession of countries such as Togo and Benin that are in the grip of French influence, because their accession in this case will be a French breakthrough to get to know closely the course of the work of the new alliance and blow it up from within.
I believe that the exit or withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso represents an important opportunity for ECOWAS to review its frameworks, policies and practices to make the organization independent and effective by keeping it away from the influence and pressures of the major powers, the worst of which is France, which will not stop spewing its venom in African politics. Even if this happens, it will be in favor of ECOWAS itself, while the triple withdrawal will continue, and these countries may not return unless positive pressure is exerted on them from Nigeria, for example, and political incentives and guarantees are granted respecting the internal reality of each of the three countries that withdrew.
The double standards of ECOWAS undermined its credibility in the region, the paramilitary coup in Mali and the assumption of the son of President Idriss Déby was nothing but a circumvention of the Constitution and blessed by the African Union, ECOWAS, France and the United States.
The triple withdrawal is an indictment of ECOWAS, an indication of incoherence within the organization, and the question we should also ask ourselves is: Was ECOWAS really an effective regional body? I think that the biggest loser in the disintegration within ECOWAS was Nigeria, which lost part of its leadership and leadership of ECOWAS, so it did not isolate itself from the French diplomacy condemned by the peoples of West Africa, frankly, Nigeria cannot do this because France, the United States and others are constantly interfering in its affairs under the pretext of confronting Boko Haram in the north of the country and stopped facing another insurgency in the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria. All that arose from the preference for a military security solution over a social/political solution with the supporters of Boko Haram, an Islamic advocacy group, and they worked to provoke its supporters and followers, so they took up arms in self-defense against the federal government and led a large-scale rebellion against the corrupt Nigerian state, in addition to permanent Western and ecclesiastical incitement.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said that the three countries are “important members of the group” and that the bloc “remains committed to finding a negotiated solution to the political impasse.” The body further notes that it has so far received formal notification from countries regarding their withdrawal from the bloc, and I do not think so as long as the dominant mentality within ECOWAS remains dominated by major powers such as France and the United States (AFRICOM) and the preconceived ideas of the leaders of the ECOWAS countries that confuse the concepts of terrorism and sovereignty with each other. The three withdrawing countries saved effort on ECOWAS, providing an easy solution to the political impasse created by ECOWAS, so the three withdrawing countries announced the establishment of the Sahel Alliance in September 2023.
The severe sanctions imposed by ECOWAS produced little result in obliging the three countries to hand over power to civilian authorities, but also jeopardized negotiations on the electoral timetable, which military governments showed little inclination to implement. Senegal from 1960 to 1980 and is the dean of agents of France who spawned political leaders committed to loyalty to France) which embarrassed ECOWAS and was forced to put the Senegalese case on the table but without the threat of sanctions or anything negative.
In the estimation, the decision to withdraw from the ECOWAS was preceded by a more necessary and more effective decision for the independence orientation of the three countries withdrawing from French influence and influence, this decision is in general the decision to clean the sovereignty area of these three countries from French influence and control by expelling and liquidating the French military presence, personnel and bases, canceling the military and security agreements concluded with France, and reviewing the contract for France’s exploitation of Niger’s uranium, which remained unjust and losing for Niger, as well as the case in other commodities in the cases of Mali and Burkina Faso.
This decision is the decision to withdraw from the CFA franc bloc, this decision is of an influential material nature, resulting in a complete economic and financial separation between these three countries and France, which due to the seriousness of the consequences of taking this decision is working from now either to orchestrate special military coups in Niger or try to pretend discipline and diplomatic composure to develop alternatives to abuse.
With its crisis with the three retreating countries, the withdrawal of these countries is more a calamity for France than a calamity for ECOWAS.
These developments, initiated by the three countries: Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso with the liquidation of the French military presence, followed by the withdrawal from ECOWAS and perhaps followed by the withdrawal from the CFA bloc, are all developments related to the failure and end of the Françafrique policy that France followed for a long time with its former colonies.
The emergence of regional organizations, groupings and blocs such as the ECOWAS, IGAD bloc, the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (EAC), THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF CENTRAL AFRICAN STATES (ECCAS), THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (EAC), RIVER COMMUNITIES SUCH AS THE NIGER RIVER AUTHORITY AND OTHERS HAVE ALL WEAKENED OR INTERSECTED THEIR EFFORTS AND SOME OF THEIR OBJECTIVES WITH THE INFLUENCE AND EFFORTS OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (AU), AFTER WHICH THE AFRICAN UNION WILL DEFINITELY WITNESS A CONFLICT OR DIPLOMATIC CLASH BETWEEN THESE THREE RETREATING COUNTRIES. From ECOWAS, the ECOWAS countries may obstruct the interests and dealings of the three withdrawing countries with the African Union, especially in light of the weakness of the leaders of this Union, a weakness whose level varies from one leadership to another, but it reached its peak in the leadership of Moussa Faki Chadian to the African Union Commission, which may intervene in some way and indirectly push Nigeria and France to return Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to the ECOWAS incubator. In my opinion, it is late, as the three countries have formed a coalition of Sahel countries and are a short distance from A more painful decision for France is to separate from the Franc CFA bloc, which since the nineties of the last century has demanded other countries in West Africa to work by the French political and monetary authorities concerned with reassessing its link to the French franc and then to the euro, but to no avail.
The withdrawal of Mali and Niger-Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be followed by other negative repercussions related to the French political and economic bridges that France has extended with these countries and perhaps with other African countries in the future, such as the French Cooperation Agency and the International Organization of la Francophonie, as it is a tool for cultural and later political penetration of the Francophone African countries, as it is a hatchery for the formation of Stuffing competencies loyal to France, which is used to produce pro-French politicians and thought leaders in African countries.
