This weekend, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS, following military coups that brought pro-Russian juntas to power over the last few years, . Many were shocked to see the Russian flag flying over historically western aligned countries. This development shouldn’t surprise anyone, however.
“Our region is facing the risk of disintegration” President of ECOWAS Omar Touray told reporters at a conference in Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday. Historically seen as the regional power player and a strong proponent of democracy, ECOWAS saw the formal secession of several Sahelian juntas this weekend. As the threat of war looms, what led to breakdown of the status-quo in the region and what can be done to stop it?
How West Africa Got Here
In 1965, the President of Africa’s first independent state Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah wrote ‘Neo-Colonialism, the Final Stage of Imperialism’, in which he described former colonial powers as establishing economic and covert domination of the global south even after decolonisation. To prove him wrong, the following year, the CIA overthrew Nkrumah in a military coup and established a junta that would proceed to privatize assets en-masse to Western firms.
As the succeeding junta was keen to point out, Nkrumah was far from a saint himself; using the ‘Preventative Detention Act’ to imprison and torture political opponents and declaring Ghana a one-party state. He argued that such powers were necessary to prevent Western domination, an argument that has been used by West African dictators from Mathieu Kérékou to Thomas Sankara.
From the ‘National Liberation Council’ to the ‘National Redemption Council’, Ghana would be ruled by increasingly ominously named military Juntas until 1992. The story of Ghana is reflective of most countries of the region. In Francophone countries particularly, France’s policy of ‘Françafrique’ has maintained a clientelist relationship with West African leaders, backing countless dictatorships in exchange for military and economic concessions.
The Rise of ECOWAS
It was in reaction to this very type of foreign intervention that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was formed with the goal of achieving ‘collective self-sufficiency’.
Originally merely a regional pillar of the African Union, ECOWAS’ role eventually expanded beyond economic integration; spear-heading peace-keeping operations in civil wars in the Ivory Coast and Liberia.
Most significantly, ECOWAS has played a significant role in upholding democratic civilian governments in its members. ECOWAS’ rise in geopolitical importance coincided with a growth in democratisation, with democracy monitor ‘Freedom House’ giving Ghana a score of 80, the same as Poland. Following Gambian President Jammeh’s refusal to step down following electoral defeat in 2016, ECOWAS military forces intervened in the country and restored Adama Barrow to power.
In addition to its actions to uphold regional democracy, ECOWAS has sought to increase regional autonomy. Central to this has been the proposed ‘ECO’ which would act as a unified currency for all ECOWAS members. Currently, eight West African states use the French-backed CFA Franc, a currency whose pegging and direct exchangeability with the Euro and its systemic overvaluation makes imports from Europe extremely cheap, effectively creating a preferential market for European products.
Progress on the ECO, first proposed in 2003, has stalled significantly, with the difficulty of producing a monetary policy which suits all ECOWAS states proving great. The stalling of these efforts has caused significant frustration.
It is in this context of rising anti-French sentiment that a series of coups occurred from 2020-2023. It is notable that all three of the countries that left ECOWAS this weekend were Francophone. The context of France’s influence has provided the perfect ideological crutch for ambitious military leaders.
Following years of French intervention in the Sahel, the military justified their coups as reversing the “stranglehold of foreign powers”, mirroring the rhetoric of Nkrumah and Sankara. Just as in the past, accusations of defence against imperialism have been highly successful in garnering popular support. It was no surprise then, that when ECOWAS demanded that military juntas transition to civilian rule or face invasion, Sahelian juntas called ECOWAS imperialist and created a regional defence block against a potential invasion.
What Happens Next?
Following the most recent coup in Niger, ECOWAS initially seemed to threaten military intervention to “restore constitutional order”, however, this looks increasingly unlikely. The only similar military intervention by ECOWAS was in The Gambia, a country only 15 miles wide.
With France, America and now Russia unable to restore order in the Sahel, it seems unlikely that ECOWAS peacekeepers would be able to bring a stable democratic order to the region. ECOWAS attempted to woo the countries back by ending sanctions in February, but events this weekend have proved that these actions have failed.
With military options likely untenable, it is unclear where this puts ECOWAS. On Sunday, ECOWAS President Omar Touray described the threat posed by withdrawal of the three juntas to ECOWAS as “existential”, asserting that such withdrawals could domino.
Perhaps the most likely form of resolution will be concessions. ECOWAS has historically been committed to safeguarding some degree of democratic norms among its members, however, Touray’s commitment to “do everything we can to avoid the withdrawal of these three brotherly countries from ECOWAS” included a willingness to “adapt ECOWAS to the realities of our times”.
Final Thought
The roll-back of ECOWAS has disastrous implications for both the region and democracy globally. Over two years into its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is still finding new allies, discrediting democratic government in the process. As West Africa finds Russian-aligned autocracies spring up and tensions rise between two parallel blocs, Russia and the region’s military dictators have had no greater than the west, who have provided the perfect environment to justify their offensive against democracy.
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This article was written by Chamber UK’s features writer – Alex Connor.