Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and his Ghanaian counterpart, John Mahama, on Wednesday called on Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to rejoin the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, after the trio quit earlier this year.
Recall that the military juntas that took over in Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey after coups between 2020 and 2023 left the West African bloc at the end of January.
The three countries are said to have since allied themselves in a confederation called the Alliance of Sahel States, AES.
On a visit to Abidjan, Mahama offered to be a bridge between ECOWAS and AES to explore ways to work with them so that they not only remain within the subregion but also transition to constitutional democracy.
“I hope that President Mahama’s appeal will be heard by these three brother countries and that we can continue together within ECOWAS,” Ouattara told a joint news conference.
The split came after the July 2023 coup in Niger when the West African bloc threatened military intervention and imposed heavy economic sanctions on Niamey, which have since been lifted.
The trio, in turn, accused ECOWAS, among other things, of not providing enough support in the fight against jihadist violence and of being subservient to France.
It was gathered that all three nations have frosty relations with Paris, the former colonial power.
Their decision to leave took effect on January 29 this year.