ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States: Regional Security, Integration, and the Withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger

Abstract

This study examines the transformation of the West African regional order following the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The analysis covers the period from the 2020 military coup in Mali to the post-withdrawal context in 2026. Following successive military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2020 and 2023, ECOWAS adopted sanctions and other coercive measures aimed at restoring constitutional order. During the Niger crisis, ECOWAS also considered military intervention and took measures concerning its Standby Force, although no military intervention ultimately took place. In response to the deteriorating relationship with ECOWAS, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) on 16 September 2023 through the Liptako-Gourma Charter. The three governments announced their intention to withdraw from ECOWAS on 28 January 2024. On 6 July 2024, they established the Confederation of Sahel States in Niamey. Their withdrawal from ECOWAS became legally effective on 29 January 2025 under the applicable withdrawal procedure of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty.

The study employs Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT), qualitative documentary analysis, historical institutional analysis, and comparative analysis. It argues that the withdrawal did not eliminate regional security interdependence; rather, it changed the institutional mechanisms through which such interdependence is managed. The emergence of parallel regional structures has increased institutional differentiation, complicated collective security coordination, and created new challenges for economic and political integration in West Africa.