Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire plead Sahel states rejoin ECOWAS
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have asked that Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger rejoin the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
This came after the three countries withdrew from the community in January, formally severing ties after an increase in tensions.
According to North Africa Post, in his visit to Abidjan, the Ghanaian President proposed to “serve as a bridge between ECOWAS and these three countries to explore how we can work together, keeping them within the sub-region while transitioning toward constitutional democracy,”
The Ivorian President repeated his sentiment, hoping the “three brother countries” would listen to calls for regional unity.
All three departed nations went through military coups between 2020 and 2023, which led to the formation of their own confederation, the Sahel States Alliance.
Leadership in the Sahel States Alliance have repeatedly accused ECOWAS of lacking support against jihadist violence and of subservience to France. Although Togo and Senegal tried to mediate the situation, the military governments said their departures were “irreversible” when they left on January 29th. The permanency of their decision seemed to be reinforced when the AES(Sahel States Alliance) passport was officially introduced on February 3rd.
“We stand ready to help them combat terrorism, because when your neighbor’s house burns, you must help extinguish the fire before it spreads to yours. What unites us far outweighs what divides us,” said Ghana’s president, after revealing plans to visit all three departed countries soon.
The North Africa Post, Maghrebi, Al Jazeera
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