The African Union (AU) has declared its “deep regret” over the decision this weekend by military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to pull out of the West African regional bloc, Ecowas.
Those three nations accused Ecowas of posing a threat to their sovereignty. They had all been founding members when Ecowas was set up almost 50 years ago.
In a statement on Tuesday from Moussa Faki Mahamat, the AU’s commission chairperson, “calls on regional leaders to intensify the dialogue between the Ecowasleadership and the three aforementioned countries”.
Nigeria had also rebuked Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger for leaving Ecowas, saying they were of letting their people down by quitting the group.