West African military states pledge visa-free travel to rival bloc

Three West African states ruled by military leaders have announced visa-free travel and residence rights for citizens in the 15-member regional bloc Ecowas, ahead of the trio leaving the group.

The leaders of the states – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – said that the visa and residency decision was taken in the spirit of friendship, and to strengthen ancient ties among the African people.

The three plan to withdraw from Ecowas in January after refusing to comply with the bloc's demand to restore democratic governance.

Ecowas leaders are meeting in Nigeria to discuss the decision, fearing the withdrawal would be a major blow to regional unity and efforts to promote economic and security cooperation.

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has led efforts to persuade the military junta to stay in the bloc, but they have refused.

After a ministerial-level meeting on Friday in Niger's capital, Niamey, the three states said in a joint statement that their decision was “irreversible”.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger were founding members of Ecowas in 1975.

With their planned departure, the bloc will lose 76 million of its 446 million people and more than half of its total land area.

This is the first split in Ecowas, with the three broken states forming their own bloc, the Sahel States Alliance.

In a statement, the chairman of the new alliance, Mali's military governor Assimi Goïta, said that the rights of Ecowas citizens “to enter, circulate, stay, establish and leave” the new block would be maintained.

His statement was seen as a sign to the leaders of Ecowas that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger wanted to maintain good relations, despite leaving the bloc.

The three states notified Ecowas in January 2023 that they will withdraw in a year, meeting the timeline set by the bloc for states that decide to leave.

Relations between the bloc and the three countries have been strained after military coups took place in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.

Ecowas condemned the coups, and suspended their membership, hoping that they would restore civilian rule.

But the coup leaders dug in their heels, and have moved towards Russia.

They accuse Ecowas of being too close to Western powers, and they increasingly rely on Russia to fight against armed jihadists who are fighting terrorism in the region.