The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, will no longer include Burkina Faso, Mali, and the Niger Republic as members starting in 2025.
During the 66th regular session of heads of state and government in Abuja on Sunday, Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS commission, made the news.
According to reports, in January of this year, the military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger declared their intention to immediately leave the ECOWAS.
The three were suspended from ECOWAS prior to the pullout, with severe sanctions imposed on Niger and Mali. But according to Touray, ECOWAS has now scheduled the countries’ departure for January 29, 2025, to July 29, 2025.
