The Niger-Benin Rift Spells More Trouble for West Africa

A statement that has erupted betwixt West African neighbors Benin and Niger reflects nan lingering divisions that proceed to stone nan region since last year’s coup successful Niamey. Fearing a threatened subject involution by nan Economic Organization of West African States, aliases ECOWAS, successful nan contiguous aftermath of nan coup, Niger formed a communal defense pact pinch Burkina Faso and Mali, some of which are besides ruled by subject regimes. That pact culminated successful nan statement of nan Alliance of Sahel States, known by its French acronym AES, followed by nan 3 states’ determination to retreat from ECOWAS, which they reaffirmed astatine nan AES’ first general leaders’ acme past weekend.

But arsenic nan rift betwixt Benin and Niger shows, immoderate attempts to bifurcate into competing blocs will person important impacts connected specified a profoundly interconnected region.

When their threats of subject involution failed to reverse nan Nigerien coup, nan ECOWAS personnel states, including Benin, alternatively imposed sanctions connected Niger successful July 2023, successful an effort to unit nan subject to return ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to power. These measures included a “no-fly zone,” separator closures and nan cessation of trade. Notably, nan sanctions offered nary exemptions for things specified arsenic food, energy and petroleum products, which took a dense toll connected Niger’s economical and humanitarian conditions.