The leaders of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) decided to close their countries’ borders with Mali, freeze their bank balances, prevent bank transfers, withdraw all diplomats from Bamako, and cancel all forms of cooperation with it, as well as financial aid except for medicines and foodstuffs.

Since its inception nearly half a century ago, the African Cooperation Organization (ECOWAS) has taken strict decisions regarding crises and wars facing any member state, so what is its story?

financial crisis

Recently, the leaders of ECOWAS and the West African Monetary Community held their two extraordinary summits, amid calls from the majority of the members of the two groups to reject the plan of the leaders of the Malian army to extend their term of office for an additional 5 years, after the coup they carried out in May 2020.

At the conclusion of two summits held in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, the head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said - on Sunday the ninth of January 2022 - that the group would "close the borders with Mali and impose comprehensive economic sanctions on it in response to the unacceptable delay" of the elections that were held in Ghana. The interim authorities promised to conduct it after the military coup in 2020.

In a statement issued after an emergency summit in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, the group said it found the proposed timetable for the transition to constitutional rule completely unacceptable, saying that this timetable "simply means that any illegitimate military transitional government will take the Malian people hostage."

The group stated that it agreed to impose additional sanctions with immediate effect.

This included closing the members' land and air borders with Mali, suspending non-essential financial transactions, freezing state financial assets in ECOWAS commercial banks and recalling the ambassadors of ECOWAS member states from Bamako, the capital of Mali.

Meanwhile, the West African Economic and Monetary Union instructed all financial institutions under its umbrella to immediately suspend Mali's membership, which means stopping the country's access to regional financial markets.

Since the first coup in August 2020 and then the second coup in May 2021, which established Colonel Guetta as head of the "transitional" authorities, ECOWAS has been pushing for the return of civilians to power as soon as possible.

Sunday's meeting is the eighth held by West African leaders to discuss the situation in Mali (and Guinea after another coup in September 2021) since August 2020, without counting the regular meetings.

Birth and founding

The idea of ​​establishing a framework for economic cooperation between West African countries dates back to the fifties of the twentieth century, and was translated by the customs union established in 1959 between the Mali Federation (Senegal and Mali) and between the four countries of harmony, namely Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), Benin (formerly Dahomey), Niger and the Sahel Ivory.

- In the early sixties, most of the countries in the region gained independence, so the idea of ​​establishing a framework for both economic and political cooperation emerged again.

- The first step in this direction was the invitation of Liberian President William Thomban in 1964 to establish a cooperation organization for the countries of the region, and this call resulted in the following year the signing of an agreement for inter-cooperation between Liberia, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone, but the project failed.

1972: The project was resurrected by Nigerian President Jacob Kon and Togolese Nyasingbe Eyadema. They toured 12 African countries to persuade their leaders to engage in the project.

new frame

- Following the tour, a meeting of experts was called in Lomé;

A treaty proposal was submitted, and then steps toward establishing the new framework were accelerated.

January 1974: A meeting of legal experts was held in Accra to draw up the founding texts.

May 1975: A meeting of foreign ministers was held in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, finalizing the treaty signed by 15 countries, declaring the birth of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

ECOWAS includes 15 countries with a total population of about 350 million people (statistics of 2021), and its total area is 5 million square kilometers, or 17% of the total area of ​​the African continent.

The member states are Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Cape Verde (acceded in 1976).

Mauritania was the only Arab country in the group until its withdrawal in December 2000.

February 2017: Morocco formally submitted an application to join ECOWAS and it was initially approved at a summit of the heads of member states of the organization in June 2017, but Morocco's membership has not yet been officially accepted.

As for the official language of these countries, there are 8 French-speaking countries, while 5 countries have English, and the remaining two countries have Portuguese.

Objectives.. Structures

The organization aims to achieve economic integration, enhance trade exchanges between the countries of the region, and promote integration in the fields of industry, transport, communications, energy, agriculture and natural resources, as well as the financial and monetary sector.

The organization consists of the following structures:

The Council of Heads of State and Government: It is the highest political body to which major decisions refer.

The Ministerial Council: It is usually entrusted with the task of preparing for the summits, and in it the political discussion of the various decisions takes place on the horizon of their approval by the Council of Presidents.

The Parliament of the Group: It has legislative authority related to approving the texts issued by the executive structures. It also decides on the organization’s handling of crises in one of the member countries, and it sometimes sends mediation committees in times of crisis.

The Economic and Social Council: It has an advisory role and the power to submit proposals of interest to joint development projects among the group's countries.

The group's Court of Justice: decides on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflicts in the region.

ECOWAS includes the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and the Intergovernmental Working Group on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism in West Africa (GIABA).

ECOWAS also includes two monetary economic blocs, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

Protocol of the first African separation force

1978: ECOWAS members signed a protocol on non-aggression and common defense, which provided for the possibility of deploying a force to separate belligerent forces in the event of a conflict between two member countries.

- December 10, 1999: The leaders of the organization approved the protocol on the development of a mechanism for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, which was established to establish the first African separation force to intervene in times of crisis and known as the "Ecomoc force", which intervened before the signing of the protocol related to it in Guinea-Bissau in 1997 , then in Sierra Leone in 1998, and then in Ivory Coast in 2002.

2003: ECOWAS sent peacekeeping forces during the first civil war in Côte d'Ivoire (2002-2004).

2003: ECOWAS sent troops to Liberia during the second civil war (1999-2003).

2004: The ECOWAS Summit decided to transform the Ecomoc into the "Deterrence Force of the Organization", within the framework of the formation of the African Union's Intervention and Deterrence Force, which was entrusted with the task of intervening to maintain security and stability in any country in the continent experiencing armed unrest.

2006: The group's committee was formed and replaced the general secretariat, and it consists of 8 delegates who, with the help of an administrative team working under their command, carry out the administrative work of the organization, and coordinate its relations with member states.

2007: The Trans-ECOWAS project was established for the purpose of modernizing the railways in this region.

March 30, 2012: ECOWAS leaders gave the coup leaders in Mali 72 hours to restore constitutional order in the country, after the plane carrying a delegation of 5 leaders of the region could not land at Bamako airport due to protesters storming the airport.

- At a meeting they held in the Ivory Coast's capital, Yamoussoukro, the leaders threatened to impose a diplomatic and financial blockade on the Malian state if the coup authority did not restore the constitutional order within the specified deadline.

Ivory Coast wars

1999: The President of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, expelled many of his rivals in the army. Some officers staged a military coup, and put Major General Robert Guei in power, which led to the outbreak of clashes between the two parties.

September 2002: The Forces Nouvelles rebels took control of the north, while Gbagbo retained the south. The conflict caused poverty in the country and deepened the size of the political dispute. The United Nations and France deployed about 11,000 of their forces to separate the rebels and government forces.

- September 29, 2001: The Economic Community of West African States organized an extraordinary summit devoted to discussing the ivory crisis.

October 4, 2002: ECOWAS intervened to bring the belligerents closer and held talks with officials of the Ivory Coast government to pave the way for a ceasefire with the rebels.

ECOWAS announced the signing of a ceasefire agreement in the capital, Yamoussoukro, between the government of President Laurent Gbagbo and the rebel military, but differences prevented its signing.

- December 18, 2002: ECOWAS meetings were held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to discuss the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire.

March 3, 2007: The parties to the conflict agreed to draw up a new peace plan between them with the aim of uniting the country and preparing for elections, at the end of negotiations hosted by Burkina Faso.

March 4, 2007: With the help of ECOWAS, Forces Nouvelles rebel leader Guillaume Soro and Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo signed a peace agreement. According to the agreement, the new Soro assumed the position of Prime Minister, replacing the current Prime Minister Charles Bani, who had been appointed by the United Nations to oversee On the disarmament process and preparation for general elections.

- November 28, 2010: Côte d'Ivoire witnessed another political crisis after the run-off of the presidential elections, where the High Elections Committee announced the victory of Ouattara, but the Constitutional Council annulled its result and declared Gbagbo president of the country for a new term.

The United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, and Western and African countries recognized Boutara as president and demanded that Gbagbo step down, and Europe and some of those close to him imposed sanctions, while the African Union suspended the membership of Ivory Coast.

December 2010: The African Group threatens to use force to remove Laurent Gbagbo from power if he refuses to leave it to Alassane Ouattara.

January 3, 2011: 3 ECOWAS heads of state arrived in Côte d'Ivoire for a second round of talks aimed at finding a solution to the Ivory Coast crisis.

March 24, 2011: ECOWAS calls on the UN Security Council to support the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire so that it can use "all necessary means" to protect life and property.

ECOWAS said that the goal is also to facilitate the immediate transfer of power to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the November 2010 presidential elections.

Guinea-Bissau.. The Gambia

April 27, 2012: ECOWAS announced that it would send military forces to Mali and Guinea-Bissau to monitor the transition to civilian rule in the two countries, and would impose sanctions on the military leaders who overthrew the civilian rulers in the two countries if they tried to cling to power.

Soldiers in Mali overthrew the government in March while the army in Guinea-Bissau seized power, disrupting elections during an April 12 coup.

July 2013: ECOWAS has 6 new divisions: Human Resources Management, Education, Science and Culture, Energy and Minerals, Communications and Information Technology, Industry and Private Sector Promotion.

January 19, 2017: ECOWAS led the military intervention in The Gambia to force Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to leave and hand over power to President Adama Barrow, elected following the 2016 Gambian presidential elections.

ECOWAS gave Jammeh a deadline, who decided on January 21 to hand over power and leave the country.

August 28, 2020: ECOWAS leaders said at the opening of an extraordinary summit via video link that civilians must return to power after the coup that ousted Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita 10 days ago.

September 18, 2021: During their summit in Ghana, ECOWAS leaders expressed their refusal to contract the financial authorities with the Russian Wagner Company, to take over the task of training and accompanying the Malian army, and to ensure the protection of senior officials, as they are doing in the Central African Republic.

January 10, 2022: After ECOWAS announced the imposition of sanctions on his country, the head of the ruling military junta in Mali, Asmi Gueta, confirmed his openness to dialogue with ECOWAS.

Gueta said - in a speech broadcast on state television - that "even if we regret the illegal, illegal and inhumane nature of certain decisions, Mali remains open to dialogue with ECOWAS, to find a consensus between the highest interests of the Malian people and respect for the fundamental principles of the organization."