Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announce withdrawal from ECOWAS

Military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have withdrawn from ECOWAS, with immediate effect. According to the AFP news agency, all three countries were suspended from ECOWAS with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions. They have hardened their positions in recent months and joined forces in an “Alliance of Sahel States”. A French military withdrawal from the Sahel — the region along the Sahara desert across Africa — has heightened concerns over the conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast. The prime minister appointed by Niger’s military regime on Thursday blasted ECOWAS for “bad faith” after the bloc largely shunned a planned meeting in Niamey.