ECOWAS grants grace period to Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will have a six-month grace period after their scheduled exit from West Africa's main political and economic group next month during which the ECOWAS bloc will try to persuade them to stay, the bloc's leaders agreed.

The summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was seen as a chance to address the impending withdrawal of the three countries on Jan. 29, a year after they jointly announced they would leave in a reversal of decades of regional integration.

"The three countries will officially cease to be members of ECOWAS from 29th January 2025. The authority decided to set the period from 29th January 2025 to 29th July 2025 as a transitional period and to keep ECOWAS doors open to the three countries during the transition period," ECOWAS President, Omar Tourey said. 

ECOWAS has so far failed in its goal to push them to reconsider, while the three countries in the insurgency-torn central Sahel region have set up their own alliance, sought ever-closer alignment in defense and other areas and mooted abandoning the West African currency union.

While Jan. 29 remains the official withdrawal date, the effective date for their departure has been extended to July 29 - a transition period during which mediators from the bloc will seek "to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS without prejudice," commission president Oumar Touray said at the end of the summit.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso reaffirmed their decision to leave as irreversible and jointly declared that their territories would remain visa-free for all ECOWAS citizens post-exit.

The three countries said in a joint statement that while access to their territories would remain visa-free for other West African citizens, they “reserve the right … to refuse entry to any ECOWAS national falling into the category of inadmissible immigrants.”