ECOWAS Remains United Amid Regional Shifts, Keeps Doors Open to Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso — Dr. Omar Alieu Touray
By Raymond Enoch
Despite recent fractures within West Africa’s political landscape, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, remains optimistic about the region’s future. Speaking today in Bamako, Mali after a meeting with Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the AES Countries, Dr Touray reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to regional unity, even as Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso continue their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Touray underscored ECOWAS’s historic achievements, describing it as a “single market for 400 million people” forged over five decades. “The door remains open,” he said, noting that the July deadline for re-entry by the three departing nations does not close the path to dialogue or reintegration.
His remarks came on the heels of a high-level consultation held in Bamako between Touray and the foreign ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States (ESA Confederation), which includes the breakaway countries. The joint ECOWAS/ESA communiqué released afterward signals a cautious but ongoing diplomatic engagement.
In response to accusations by the juntas that ECOWAS is under French influence, Touray firmly dismissed such claims, calling them unfounded and distracting from the region’s real challenges—most urgently, terrorism and insecurity.
On that front, Touray revealed that progress is being made toward launching a regional counter-terrorism force. Talks are scheduled for mid-June as member states prepare to contribute troops and financial support to bolster regional security efforts.
While political rifts remain, Touray’s message was clear: the vision of a united West Africa endures—and the doors of ECOWAS are still open to those willing to walk back through them.
