(FILES) A local resident walks past the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Lagos office in Lagos on September 24, 2024. (Photo by Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP) Junta-led countries Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have officially withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States. They officially exited West Africa’s main political and trade group on Wednesday after more than a year of diplomatic tensions. The withdrawal has shaken ECOWAS, which many consider to be the continent’s most important regional group and this year marks its 50th anniversary. While its leadership said in a statement that the group would “keep ECOWAS doors open” to the three countries, their departure has left the organisation’s future uncertain. The rupture was sparked by the July 2023 coup in Niger, after military
Author Archives: Agency Report
Nov
President Bola Tinubu President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the 19th Heads of State and Government Summit of the Group of 20 (G20). The President, who arrived on Sunday at 11.03 p.m. local time, (Monday 3. 03 a.m. Nigerian time) was received by Amb. Breno Costa in the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil. He was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, and the Minister of Art, Tourism, Culture and Creativity, Hannatu Musawa. Others are the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, and Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Amb. Mohammed Mohammed. Tinubu is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit