A two-day high level policy dialogue that seeks to provide a platform to discuss strategies to address the concerns of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries with the aim of reintegrating them into ECOWAS is underway in Accra.
Organised by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), it also seeks to provide a platform for stakeholders to reflect deeply on the innovative frameworks and mechanisms capable of addressing the emerging challenges in West Africa in the medium to long-term within the context of relevant Articles of the 1993 ECOWAS revised treaty and changing geopolitical and strategic context in the region.
Themed: ‘Understanding the Geopolitical and Strategic Changes in West Africa: Emerging Challenges and the Future of ECOWAS.’
Speaking at the opening yesterday, Executive Director of of WANEP, Mrs Levinia Addae-Mensah, Stated that the increasing fragility and fragmentation within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have created a volatile landscape that demands urgent and innovative responses.
She noted that the unconstitutional changes of government, persistent threats of violent extremism interlinked with kidnapping, banditry, and communal violence across the regional boundaries also needs innovative solutions.
“Indeed, the recent exit of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger from ECOWAS, the AES countries is a profound indicator of the deep fractures which we must confront with courage, candour, and commitment,” she added.
The Commissioner, Political Affairs, Peace and Security, ECOWAS, Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, said ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, at its 66th Ordinary Summit on December 15, 2024, formally acknowledged the decision by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from the community on January 29, this year.
Even though, he said, the Authority has left the door open for the countries automatic reintegration into the Community should in case they have a change of mind by July 29, 2025.
Additionally, he emphasised that ECOWAS has invited the three countries to cooperate with the Community in the security and humanitarian spheres, sources of existential threat to the entire Region.
BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA