President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is hoping for a comeback to ECOWAS of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali who pulled out of the sub-regional bloc recently.
His optimism stems from the goodwill of Senegal’s new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, within the sub-region which he is confident of him capitalising on to convince the three former member states to rejoin the bloc.
Addressing the press after holding bilateral talks with President Faye at the Jubilee House Friday, May 17, 2024, as part of his state visit to Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said Senegal’s new President has demonstrated commitment towards ECOWAS’s efforts aimed at bringing the three countries back to the bloc and for negotiations to continue.
According to Akufo-Addo, Mr. Faye’s “election was a source of reassurance to all of us who are interested in the democratic future of our nation and our continent.”
He explained that the sub-regional block was “lucky in having a new leader in Senegal in place, because I think he’s also going to help us try and resolve the big problem that we have in the ECOWAS community, and that is the purported departure of three of the key figures, key nations in ECOWAS, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.”
“And President Faye is very committed to seeing what he, together with the rest of us, can do to reach out and begin to revive the dialogue that will enable us to extend the hand of friendship and brotherhood to these three countries and find a way to bring them back within the ECOWAS community. It’s a historically very important set of measures that have to be taken to enable that to happen,” President Akufo-Addo explained.
The 44-year-old President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was in Ghana for a day’s visit as part of a select tour of some African countries.
Earlier this year, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The junta-led countries had already been suspended from the bloc, which has been urging them to return to democratic rule. The three governments said it was a “sovereign decision” to withdraw from ECOWAS.
Their suspension followed the respective ousting of their presidents who had over-stayed their terms of office as enshrined in their constitution through a coup d’etat.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye welcomed the challenge and called for unity among ECOWAS states to fight poverty and insecurity in the sub-region.
