OUAGADOUGOU — Burkina Faso’s Minister of Economy, Aboubakar Nacanabo, stated on Sunday that the formal departure of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was a mere formalization of an existing reality.

According to Burkina Information Agency, Nacanabo articulated that following political changes within these nations, they were already being sidelined from key decision-making platforms within the organization.

Nacanabo highlighted that these countries had not been included in significant ECOWAS events, such as the conference of heads of state, council of ministers meetings, and even certain technical meetings since the shifts in governance. “Since the changes that took place in Burkina, Mali, and Niger, we were already excluded from ECOWAS. We were no longer invited to major ECOWAS activities,” he said. The minister expressed regret over this exclusion, noting that the decision on January 28, 2024, to officially withdraw was a move to concretely affirm their departure from the regional bloc.

This declaration came in the wake of the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) on September 16, 2023, by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, aiming to foster mutual defense and promote development amidst criticisms of ECOWAS’s allegiance to external interests, imposition of unfair sanctions, and deviation from its foundational principles. The collective withdrawal of these countries on January 28, 2024, was a protest against what they perceived as the organization’s subservience to foreign powers and its betrayal of its original ideals.