ECOWAS: without radical changes, regional bloc will see ‘systematic disappearance’ — experts

Following a recent string of military coups, retaliatory sanctions, and withdrawal of its member states, it became clear that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lacks authority, legitimacy, and effective sanction and intervention instruments, and thus, as observers warn, it must either reform or decline.

Once considered Africa’s most institutionally developed regional organization, ECOWAS’ very existence may now be at stake after the three Sahel countries, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, declared their withdrawal in January 2024, plunging ECOWAS into a deep crisis.

Another potential cause of instability has emerged with Senegal’s newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who has repeatedly expressed understanding for the military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Moreover, Senegal’s new leader is increasingly calling for “radical changes in ECOWAS,” which, according to observers, will not contribute to strengthening the economic community and calming the situation in the region.

Experts and observers generally tend to agree. According to Nigerian political analyst Dicko Abdourahamane, in light of these developments, ECOWAS must make profound changes. If nothing is done, he says, then this could mean the bloc’s “systematic disappearance.” Political analyst and activist from Guinea-Bissau, Carlos Pereira, concurs by saying that “ECOWAS will only have a future if its member countries remember the spirit of Pan-Africanism, come together, and pull in the same direction.” Senegalese journalist Hamidou Sagna holds a similar position when he says that “the survival of ECOWAS is only possible if all the countries involved in the region consider the concept of democracy more important than their particular economic interests.”