The Economic Community of West African States will on January 29, 2025, begin the process for Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to formally withdraw their membership of the regional bloc.
It declared a six-month transition period lasting until July 29, 2025, within which it would engage withdrawal protocol.
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, announced this at the close of the 66th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The development follows the elapse of the one-year statutory period since the three countries first filed their decision to withdraw.
Article 91 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty mandates that any member state wishing to withdraw must give a formal notification to the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
The withdrawal does not take immediate effect; instead, the country is required to wait one year from the date of the notice.
The one-year period, among other reasons, provides time for a withdrawing state to settle financial and legal obligations it may owe to ECOWAS or affiliated institutions.
To this effect, Touray announced, “The authority takes note of the notification by Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger of their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS.
The bloc also extended the mandates of Senegalese President, Bassirou Faye, and Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé who, since June 2024, led ECOWAS’s mediation efforts with the three withdrawing states.
