On May 28, 2025, ECOWAS will turn 50 years old. There have been events outlined to celebrate in Ghana but rather than a jubilee celebration, it should be a moment of deep retrospection on the purpose of ECOWAS and the trajectory it has taken.
ECOWAS was once a symbol of strength, unity, progress and African integration reflectingthe pan-African agenda but now faces challenges to its authority, declining influence, and internal divisions caused by external pressures.
The emergence of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) is not a temporary alternative but a unified and fierce movement, arising from the inability of current political systems to advance the pan-African agenda across 15 member states.
ECOWAS: the broken promise of integration
ECOWAS was founded on a solid rock of economic unity set out to dismantle trade barriers, promote collective security and unify West Africa under the roof of pan-African integration. Fifty years on, these objectives lie in tatters.
The alleged regional integration of the member states has created trade restrictions and instead of shared prosperity, widespread poverty looms. Meanwhile ECOWAS, the known peacekeeping bloc, has become a political benchwarmer and onlooker in the region’s defining moments.
The bloc that is expected to become the blueprint of continental spectre, beacon of hope and torchbearer of African integration has been hijacked and held hostage by foreign influence.
Failure to serve African interests
Western powers haven’t fully relinquished control of their colonies. France in particular has long exploited francophone countries, supporting corrupt regimes that serve their geopolitical and economic interests at the expense of the people’s will.
They have ruthlessly reinvigorated that Africa’s underdevelopment fuels Western prosperity and must ensure Africa is not developed. At the same time, its mineral resources have become a curse, as seen recently in the Congo.
The blueprint is clear: keep African economies reliant on Western aid, support corrupt regimes to sign exploitative contracts and use the debt trap to negotiate Africa’s resources. This keeps neo-colonial powers in control of African economies, and rather than ECOWAS being a West African bloc of pan- African resistance, it has become an enabler.
The recent coup in the Sahel states is a testament to who ECOWAS really benefits. Instead of getting to the bottom line and asking why Burkina Fasso, Mali and Niger revolted against the democratic ethos in their respective states, ECOWAS rushed to sanction and threatened military intervention. It is absurd, to be fighting your own member states.
The corrupt leadership of ECOWAS
The strength and hope of any organisation start with the character of the leader. There is no doubt that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s current president and ECOWAS chairman, comes with a long history of corruption allegations, coupled with his inclusion in Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s (OCCRP) list of the most corrupt leaders in 2024.
It might be absurd to expect the leadership of Tinubu to deliver progress. This is a kind of person who would throw anybody under the bus to make money from foreign patrons. It is all about the business of politics and not African integration. Under the leadership of Tinubu, ECOWAS risks further loss of trust and credibility.
The Alliance of Sahel States
The AES is a coalition of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Born out of frustration, these Sahel states represent a bold step toward regional control and autonomy. These nations are not waiting for ECOWAS to find its moral direction, but are charting a new course, agreeing on border security, economic integration and the fight against the imperialist agenda.
The commitment to joint infrastructure, military force and regional trade is already more achievable than after decades of ECOWAS summits with the imperialists. AES seems to be making tremendous changes and monumental achievements since the inception of the AES bloc.
This has generated a lot of public discourse and debate across social platforms, comparing AES in three years since inception with ECOWAS in 50 years of existence. Young Africans see Sahel States as a symbol of hope and courage for Africa to stand alone without foreign influence.
A new regional consciousness
The AES is not about celebrating military uniform against democratic ethos. It is however a rebellion against, and frustration with, foreign dominance and failed democratic leadership that is immersed in corruption and has failed to deliver good governance to the people.
For decades, France has continued to align with corrupt governments in exchange for strategic deals that continue to put the citizens in perpetual poverty. The Sahel bloc is against such an arrangement as the people are at the centre of their government, which is against the imperialist agenda. There is growing awareness of the need to change the face of Africa and demand sovereignty and long-term self-respect.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso has been in the news taking extraordinary risks in fighting for sovereignty. He has survived a number of coups and murder attempts in recent times, with fingers pointing to the West.
Traoré is not backing down as he promised to finish the Job of Thomas Sankara as one of Africa’s true revolutionaries.
Make or break for ECOWAS
ECOWAS will be celebrating 50 years on May 28, 2025, as the organisation faces an existential threat to its aims and objectives.It is a call for ECOWAS to meet its founding objectives, or else fade into oblivion. Pan-African priorities should be important and not serve foreign interests, as this is the only way to find redemption.
The tide is turning, and the people are watching. They’re tired of being puppets of Western influence; they are choosing boldness over servitude.
