The 69th ECOWAS summit is underway in Freetown, Sierra Leone, marking a critical juncture for the West African regional body. As the Community convenes this Sunday, it does so with three key nations — Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso — absent, having formed their own Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The significant challenge of their departure is expected to dominate discussions, alongside pressing regional security concerns, as ECOWAS strives to bolster its image and address pan-African current affairs.

Charting ECOWAS’s future without Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso

Beyond the symbolic implications, West African leaders face a pivotal question: how to redefine ECOWAS’s trajectory following the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, now united under the Confederation of Sahel States? This is a key focus for Africa politics English analysis.

Despite their departure, these three nations remain indispensable neighbors. Heads of State are anticipated to explore avenues for dialogue, aiming to safeguard vital commercial exchanges, ensure the free movement of people, and critically, maintain security cooperation against a cross-border terrorist threat affecting the entire African society.

According to Aliou Diakite, an ECOWAS expert, the stakes are exceptionally high. He emphasizes the necessity to “discuss the future of ECOWAS and the governance and security challenges currently confronting the ECOWAS space, considering organized crime linked to terrorism, political shifts in elections, climate change, and various epidemics and pandemics. These are the issues compelling the Heads of State and Government to deliberate on ECOWAS’s future in the coming years.”

The ECOWAS standby force: still awaiting full operational status

While numerous topics hold significant interest for West African populations, some issues persistently resurface from one summit to the next without resolution.

A prime example is the ECOWAS Standby Force. Despite being announced years ago, this regional force, intended as a rapid response mechanism against terrorism, political crises, and threats to regional stability, has yet to achieve full operational capability.

Preparatory meetings involving ministers and security officials held this week in Freetown underscore the commitment of several member states to expedite its implementation, a topic of significant African news today.

Michel Ange Bangoura, a Guinean official responsible for cooperation with ECOWAS, stated, “Institutionally, everything is in order on paper for ECOWAS. The remaining challenge is securing the necessary resources for its deployment, determining the location for its headquarters, and ensuring each country contributes at least one company.”

When asked about a projected timeline for the force’s establishment, Michel Ange Bangoura responded, “I believe that during the ongoing discussions at this session, the deployment of this force in the short term will be addressed. This would involve, at minimum, its assembly in a selected host country.”

The summit agenda also includes essential institutional reforms for ECOWAS and the imperative to rebuild the organization’s credibility following several years marked by political crises and coups d’état across the region.