Editing ECOWAS (section)

== History ==

ECOWAS was formed initially from the region's former French, British and Portuguese colonies, and independent Liberia, following post-colonial independence throughout the region (particularly in the 1960s and 1970s). At independence, many African states were challenged in increasing economic development.<ref name=":3" /> Because these states could not address problems individually, there was a need for a regional approach and thus ECOWAS was founded.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |first1=Funmi |last1=Olonisakin |chapter=ECOWAS: From Economic Integration to Peace-building |pages=11–26 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvk8w0dp.6 |jstor=j.ctvk8w0dp.6 |title=ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peace-building |date=2011 |publisher=CODESRIA |isbn=978-2-86978-496-3}}</ref> ECOWAS was formed to provide regional economic cooperation, but has since evolved to include political and military cooperation, as well.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yansane |first1=Aguibou |title=The State of Economic Integration in North West Africa South of the Sahara: The Emergence of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) |journal=African Studies Review |date=1977 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=63–87 |doi=10.2307/523653 |jstor=523653}}</ref>

The union was established on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the [[Treaty of Lagos]], with its stated mission to promote economic integration across the region. A revised version of the treaty was agreed and signed on 24 July 1993 in Cotonou.<ref name="Odeyemi 2020 97–123"/> Considered one of the pillar [[trade bloc|regional blocs]] of the continent-wide [[African Economic Community]] (AEC), the stated goal of ECOWAS is to achieve "collective [[self-sustainability|self-sufficiency]]" for its member states by creating a single large trade bloc by building a full economic and trading union.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Basic information {{!}} Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) |url=https://ecowas.int/about-ecowas/basic-information/ |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=ecowas.int |archive-date=21 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221052450/https://ecowas.int/about-ecowas/basic-information/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

ECOWAS also serves as a [[peacekeeping]] force in the region, with member states occasionally sending joint military forces to intervene in the bloc's member countries at times of political instability and unrest.<ref name=":3" /> ECOWAS facilitates peacekeeping through systematic collaboration with civil society, cooperation with development policies, and other activities with the goal to meet sub-regional security challenges.<ref name=":3" /> It has played an important role in monitoring transitional election in West Africa, and these mediation efforts have even been recognized within and outside the continent of Africa.<ref name=":3" /> In recent years these included interventions in [[First Ivorian Civil War|Ivory Coast in 2003]], [[Second Liberian Civil War|Liberia in 2003]], [[2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état|Guinea-Bissau in 2012]], [[Northern Mali conflict|Mali in 2013]], [[ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia|The Gambia in 2017]],<ref name="deployment_to_liberia_2003_08_06_janes_defense_weekly" /><ref name="yahoomilint"/> and [[2022 Guinea-Bissau coup attempt|Guinea-Bissau in 2022]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.africanews.com/2022/06/21/ecowas-stabilisation-force-deployed-in-troubled-guinea-bissau// |title=ECOWAS stabilisation force deployed in troubled Guinea Bissau |work=Africanews |date=21 June 2022 |access-date=29 January 2025}}</ref> Since its creation, ECOWAS has sent peacekeeping forces seven times.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coups in Africa, Even in ECOWAS {{!}} Wilson Center |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/coups-africa-even-ecowas |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=www.wilsoncenter.org |language=en |archive-date=27 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127173744/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/coups-africa-even-ecowas |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2011, ECOWAS adopted its development blueprint for the next decade, ''Vision 2020'', and, to accompany it, a Policy on Science and Technology ([[ECOWAS Policy on Science and Technology (ECOPOST)|ECOPOST]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=ECOWAS VISION 2020 |url=http://araa.org/sites/default/files/media/ECOWAS-VISION-2020_0.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630123354/http://araa.org/sites/default/files/media/ECOWAS-VISION-2020_0.pdf |archive-date=2022-06-30 |website=Regional Agency For Agriculture And Food}}</ref> However, it has had trouble achieving the goals outlined in the policy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forson |first=Joseph Ato |date=2019-09-02 |title=West African states have a science and technology plan. But it's going nowhere |url=http://theconversation.com/west-african-states-have-a-science-and-technology-plan-but-its-going-nowhere-121273 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=The Conversation |language=en |archive-date=30 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730194024/http://theconversation.com/west-african-states-have-a-science-and-technology-plan-but-its-going-nowhere-121273 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Covering a region known as a "[[coup belt]]", ECOWAS, since the 1990s, has attempted to defend the region's shift towards democracy against authoritarian attacks. According to the BBC, since 1990, 78% of the 27 coups in sub-Saharan Africa have taken place in former French colonies. This has led some to question whether French influence in Africa has a destabilising effect.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-06 |title=Is France to blame for coups in West Africa? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66406137 |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=6 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806004657/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66406137 |url-status=live}}</ref> The transition governments in Mali and Burkina Faso cancelled military agreements that allow for French troops to operate on their territory, and in the case of Mali, removed French as an official language.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ndiaga |first=Thiam |date=2023-02-20 |title=Burkina Faso marks official end of French military operations on its soil |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/burkina-faso-marks-official-end-french-military-operations-its-soil-2023-02-19/ |access-date=2023-08-06 |archive-date=6 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806010611/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/burkina-faso-marks-official-end-french-military-operations-its-soil-2023-02-19/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Last French troops leave Mali, ending nine-year deployment |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/16/last-french-troops-leave-mali-ending-nine-year-deployment |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019182515/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/16/last-french-troops-leave-mali-ending-nine-year-deployment |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Avi-Yonah |first=Shera |date=2023-08-04 |title=Mali demotes French, language of its former colonizer, in symbolic move |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/03/mali-french-new-constitution/ |access-date=2023-08-06 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=3 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230803234614/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/03/mali-french-new-constitution/ |url-status=live}}</ref> However, the group has been cited for mild and ineffective responses in the early 2020s, when three member countries experienced military [[coups d'état]] – two in Mali, one in Guinea, and two in Burkina Faso.<ref name="leaders_due_in_guinea_2021_09_09_reuters" /><ref name="leaders_suspend_guinea_2021_09_08_bbc" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Durmaz |first=Mucahid |title=As militarisation spreads, ECOWAS faces credibility crisis |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/8/as-militarisation-spreads-ecowas-faces-credibility-crisis |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |archive-date=30 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730194022/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/8/as-militarisation-spreads-ecowas-faces-credibility-crisis |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-18 |title=The "politics of coups" shape the response to West Africa's military juntas {{!}} DIIS |url=https://www.diis.dk/en/node/26399 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.diis.dk |language=en |archive-date=30 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730194024/https://www.diis.dk/en/node/26399 |url-status=live}}</ref> When a fourth member, Niger, experienced a [[2023 Nigerien coup d'état|coup d'état in July 2023]], ECOWAS was vocal in its condemnation and raised the possibility of military action if the deposed president was not reinstated by 7 August 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-07-30 |title=West African leaders threaten intervention in Niger after military coup |work=[[Radio France Internationale]] |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20230730-west-africa-ecowas-threaten-military-intervention-iniger-military-coup |access-date=2023-07-30 |archive-date=30 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730165329/https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20230730-west-africa-ecowas-threaten-military-intervention-iniger-military-coup |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-07-30 |title=Niger coup: West African leaders threaten military intervention |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66353284 |access-date=2023-07-30 |archive-date=2 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802193949/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66353284 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-11 |title=ECOWAS approves military intervention in Niger |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2023/08/11/ECOWAS-approves-military-intervention-in-Niger |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811010255/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2023/08/11/ECOWAS-approves-military-intervention-in-Niger |url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the Nigerien military's refusal to restore civilian rule, ECOWAS activated its standby force composed of all other members except for Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Cape Verde.

On 6 July 2024, the military leaders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso signed a new pact to form a confederation, a political union of [[sovereign state]]s. The confederation's stated goal is to provide mutual defense, pool resources to build energy and communications infrastructure, establish a [[Single market|common market]], implement a [[monetary union]] under proposed currency ''the Sahel'', allow [[free movement of persons]], enable [[Industrialisation|industrialization]], and invest in agriculture, mines and energy sectors, with the end goal of [[Federation|federalizing]] into a single [[sovereign state]]. The move is seen as a strong move away from ECOWAS, which has been pressing for a return to civilian rule.