Leaders of the West African regional grouping, ECOWAS, have approved the withdrawal of the three military-ruled countries from the bloc, but offered a six-month grace period for them to reconsider.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger planned to withdraw from ECOWAS in January after rejecting the bloc’s demands to restore democratic rule.
The three countries were founding members of Ecowas when it was established in 1975 to improve economic and political integration in West Africa, so it is a major blow to Africa’s most advanced trade grouping.
Citizens of all Ecowas countries currently have the right to live and work in all member states, while goods can move freely.
Ecowas has not yet said whether it will impose restrictions on people and goods from the three departing states, which have formed a new group, the Alliance of Coastal States (AES, from its French acronym).
The Ecowas Commission in Abuja has been mandated to work on such issues, and how the two blocs should work together in the future.
Over the weekend, AES announced visa-free travel and residency rights for Ecowas citizens.
Their leaders said the decision was taken to strengthen the spirit of friendship and centuries-old ties between African peoples.
However, all three countries are poor and landlocked, so most migrants leave them for richer, coastal countries in West Africa.
ECOWAS leaders meeting in Nigeria on Sunday said they respected the three Sahel countries’ decision to leave but offered a six-month transition period.
In the period between January 29 and July 29, 2025, the three could be sent back to the bloc if they decide to rejoin the community, Ecowas said in a statement.
Meanwhile, negotiations will continue under the leadership of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal and Faure Gnassingbé of Togo.
So far, the military junta has refused to stay in the bloc despite efforts to persuade them.
After a ministerial-level meeting in Niger’s capital Niamey on Friday, the three states said in a joint statement that their decision was “irreversible”.
Their withdrawal would be a major setback to efforts to promote regional unity and economic and security cooperation.
At the start of the summit, the head of the Aquas Commission, Omar Toure, said his “imminent exit” was “disappointing”, but he wanted to “commend the ongoing mediation efforts”, according to the AFP news agency. “, reported the news agency AFP.
With their planned departure, the bloc would lose 76 million of its 446 million people and more than half of its total geographical area.
In a statement, AES chairman Assimi Goïta, Mali’s military ruler, said the right of Ecowas citizens to “enter, circulate, reside, establish and leave the territory” of the new bloc would be preserved.
His statement was seen as a signal to Ecowas leaders that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger want to maintain good relations despite leaving the bloc.
Three states gave Ecowas notice in January 2023 that they would withdraw in one year, meeting a timeline set by the bloc for states that decide to leave.
Relations between the bloc and the three countries have been strained following military coups in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.
Ecowas condemned the coup, and suspended their membership, hoping they would restore civilian rule.
But the rebel leaders dug in their heels, and turned to Russia.
They accuse Ecowas of being too close to Western powers, and increasingly relying on Russia to fight armed jihadists who are waging an insurgency in the region.
Correction December 16: This article originally described the trio’s plans as the first distribution at Ecowas. Actually Mauritania withdrew in 2000 so we have removed that line from the story.