Mali – eponews.net

ECOWAS: Meeting in Ghana over exit of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso

2025-04-23 by Klaus Boldt

Accra. – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meets in Ghana on Tuesday an Wednesday to discuss the withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. In a statement issued on Tuesday, ECOWAS told the public member states will discuss the modalities of the countries’ withdrawal and its implications for ECOWAS agencies in the countries.

The three junta-led countries made their official exit from the bloc earlier in the year. ECOWAS had issued guidelines on its relationship with the three countries and transitional measures, which it said would be reviewed and finalised as the year progressed.

The bloc maintains its free trade policy, visa-free movement, residency, and other rights within ECOWAS states and with the three countries. It will “set up a structure to facilitate discussions on these modalities with each of the three countries.”

“Key items on the agenda include the modalities of the withdrawal process and the implications for ECOWAS Institutions and Agencies operating in the three countries. The session will also address other related matters of regional importance,” ECOWAS said.

Three weeks ago, the junta-led states, under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), imposed a 0.5 per cent import duty on goods from ECOWAS. The levy applies to all goods from ECOWAS countries entering any of the three nations, except for humanitarian aid.

The policy countered ECOWAS’s intention of ensuring free movement of goods between its members and the AES countries despite their official exit from the bloc in January.

Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger leave La Francophonie

2025-03-25 by Klaus Boldt

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have announced to withdraw from the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). The three countries accused the OIF has become “a remote-controlled political instrument, operated from Paris to suit its ‘geopolitical considerations’,” the Peoples Dispatch writes.

The three countries were founding members of the OIF, an organisation with the purpose to promote the French language and greater cooperation among Francophone countries. Its precursor, the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT), was established in 1970 in Niger’s capital Niamey.

“Despite their 55 years of contribution to strengthening this organization, the trio complained that the OIF showed a ‘disregard for their sovereignty’ by ‘selective implementation of sanctions’ after the ouster of former France-backed regimes in these countries”.

When mass protests demanded the expulsion of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, their armies sided with the “anti-imperialist movement: in Mali in 2020, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Niger in 2023. The military governments that replaced these regimes expelled French troops from their countries.

“Instead of accompanying these countries in achieving the legitimate aspirations of their peoples, in accordance with its objectives of peace, cooperation, and solidarity,” the statement declared that the OIF was quick to retaliate by suspending and sanctioning these countries. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), regarded in the region as neocolonial and linked to France and the US, had gone beyond suspensions and imposition of crippling economic sanctions, even threatening a France-backed military invasion of Niger in 2023.

Meanwhile, the three Sahelian neighbor states formed a military pact that evolved into a confederation called the Alliance for Sahel States (AES). AES’s withdrawal from ECOWAS last year came into effect in January, reducing the land area under the regional bloc to less than half of its original size. Following this, on March 17, Niger and Burkina Faso announced their exit from OIF. Mali followed suit on March 18. The withdrawal from OIF was described by Le Monde as “a post-colonial entity that resembles the Commonwealth”.

Their withdrawal will take effect in six months. The OIF has 93 member states. “However, amid the growing strength of popular movements in France’s former colonies in the Sahel and West Africa – including in Benin, Ivory Coast, Chad, etc – its ability to continue exerting influence through such institutions is weakening fast”, the Peoples Dispatch states.

Mali: Algeria is interfering in internal Affairs

2025-01-032025-01-03 by Klaus Boldt

The Military Government of Mali accuses the Algerian leadership of “persistent interference” in its internal affairs. According to moroccoworldnews.com the Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf had stated that Mali’s military strategy was failing in the fight against terrorism and that a political solution would be necessary. “Mali neither seeks nor accepts lessons from Algeria, which, in recent history, conducted its fight against terrorism in full sovereignty,” the statement of the Mali Foreign Ministry said.

In December last year, the Malian government had summoned its ambassador to Algeria and accused Algiers to host meetings with “terrorists”, that are hostile towards Mali’s government.

Mali: Military Regime kills 8 Tuareg leaders in the country’s north

2024-12-05 by Klaus Boldt

Drone strikes by the Military Regime have “killed eight Tuareg rebel leaders in the town of Tinzaouatine” in the north of Mali, africanews reports reffering to a rebel spokesman. It has been “the first time since the start of the rebellion in 2012, that so many Taureg leaders have been killed in a single attack,” the story reads.