Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger recently announced their intentions to leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The economic and political block currently enables visa-free travel between its member states and organizes $150 billion a year in trade. Niger conducts the vast majority of its trade with neighboring ECOWAS nations, and many West African states host large diasporas of Nigeriens. African diplomats claim the decisions reflect these countries’ inability to contain Islamist militias within their borders. Russia is also expanding its influence in all three of these countries at the expense of France, Nigeria, and the United States. Russia has developed military relationships with leaders in Niger and Burkina Faso over the last month and maintains a fore of 1,000 Wagner troops in Mali. Many in the region blame ECOWAS for failing to properly engage with the military juntas in these landlocked nations and failing to limit corruption in the civilian regimes that preceded them.
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https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/west-africas-brexit-moment-spells-trouble-region-2024-01-30/
