The United States of West Africa
It was the year 1948, the world was reeling from a devastating war, and the need for countries in the same geographical location to galvanize became apparent. There was too much to lose in these slaughters that a little bit of diplomacy could take care of, there was a need for countries bordering each other to form one big bloc, like the power rangers do when forming a Megazord. Proposed members made treaties and squabbled for a decade, and by 1958, the foundation of a great union was set, the European Union (EU) was born.
I like to imagine that Yakubu Gowon was trying to replicate what he saw with the EU when speaking to the original 16 members of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) in 1975. A bloc to promote unity, free movement, and trade between member states! A beautiful idea if you ask me.
That Trip That Never Left The WhatsApp Group
To truly understand how much potential ECOWAS has, we need to understand its makeup and what we could have gained from a fully functional bloc.
Eleven of the ECOWAS member states have ports AKA the gateway to trade and development. All member states can take advantage of each other's ports.
Free movement of people within member states allows for easy migration and integration of talent into where it is needed. Think “Schengen Visa”
Movement of goods and services would also be a huge deal because we have a lot of agricultural produce and naturally occurring metals. Imagine what we could do if we had a system that allowed the transportation of raw materials through our countries to various spots with industrial capacity.
Using the same currency makes travel, purchases, and almost every financial transaction simple. It also opens up doors for lending, setting up financial institutions, and investing in each other’s development. We can create our central bank!
The potential is huge! So why haven’t we made it out of the WhatsApp group yet?
I wouldn't say that we haven’t yet made it out of the WhatsApp group. I mean, your passport takes you around ECOWAS states with little to no issues. That’s a huge win! Talent can move around.
But what about the movement of goods? Well, this is very complicated, but at the moment we’re not doing too badly. There are many reports of people moving some agricultural produce from Nigeria to Ghanaian ports because of the ease of export from there. Think about taxation alone. Who makes the money? How would it be shared? I mentioned how the EU was killing it. But even they didn’t get this part right till after 35 years. Plus they didn’t have colonial ties to contend with. More than half of the ECOWAS member states still use the CFA, a France treasury-tied currency. How do you create a common currency?
I would say we’ve tried so far; we get to visit each other, banter a bit and even write the same exams. After secondary school, I could have gone to Ghana for University without writing another exam. I would say that we’re one leg out of the WhatsApp group. We’re just trying to settle the logistics for the trip.
The Fall-out
Things began to fall apart with the military in a few countries (which I think is poetic seeing as it was a military man that put this whole thing in motion in the first place). Mali decided that it wanted to go back to the old days when the boys in uniform ran things. And a coup was born from the discontent that usually comes with democracy. The thing with coups is that they inspire other coups, and inspire they did; a year later Burkina Faso went through the same situation, and the Niger followed in 2023.
Now, if I was a leader in any of the West African countries, I would have been scared out of my wits! “My time might soon come. We should stop this madness, and soon!” and thus began the stringent sanctions. In a bid to curb the coupidemic, the little WhatsApp group privileges were taken away: borders were closed off, trade was discontinued, and aid was discontinued as well. The plan was to bring these countries back to democracy by force.
However, in what might be seen as overzealousness by the other leaders at the ECOWAS, they forgot that the ordinary Joe would suffer these sanctions more than a Junta eating from the cream of the crop. In fact, in what seemed to be a comedic turn of events, ECOWAS heads were threatening to go to war with the Junta-run countries.
As I write this, the three countries have issued a statement stating that they will be leaving ECOWAS. Crazy escalation I tell you!
So What Does This Mean?
I believe that it is a bad idea mainly for the countries mentioned. I told you that 11 of the ECOWAS countries had ports. Well, three of the landlocked ECOWAS countries are Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. You know how great ports are. That's a lot of economic potential thrown in a waste basket. They’ve made imports and exports more complicated than they need to be. Mali exports precious stones, Niger has uranium ore, and Burkina Faso has gold and cotton. And we have some much-needed food and petroleum.
It’s not all cake and Juice for the rest of us either, we share borders with these folk. Nigeria is meant to be fighting terrorists in a joint effort with Niger. We no longer have those ties now. How would that affect us?
These countries are also our link to North Africa, which is another trade route that gets complicated.
You might feel like it’s not a big deal, they’re not the first to leave a bloc, or even the most famous. Brexit was one for the ages and the Brits are still doing alright. Well, the Brits have their port, and they have many ex-colonies to rely on. And they’re still going through a lot.
What’s next?
It looks like everybody took “no gree for anybody” a bit too seriously this year. Or in the case of our French brothers who decided to leave “Je ne suis d'accord pour personne”. ECOWAS also took the same stance. In a communique, the bloc said it hadn’t received any formal notice from the countries and is still open to negotiations.
Are there any learning points from this episode? Yes! Don’t do coups kids. Also, take a beat before responding. ECOWAS was right to respond but might have been too harsh in its sanctions, leaving no room for negotiation.
The main question now is “Is a bloc worth it?” My answer is a hundred times yes! So much can be done when we unite in purpose. We will never fully agree with each other, but we will definitely make life for each other, and keep each other on the same trajectory development-wise if done right. I truly hope that we do it right.
I believe that it’s one of those “family reunion fights” that will end soon. But if it doesn’t: goodbye cousins Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Didn’t really know you guys, and I hope I don’t miss you guys economically.
What have I been up to:
Couldnt write for a while because of this article. I just knew I’d never be this good. So much beauty.
I’m counting down to Christmas already. Need some more of that holiday rest.
If you live or have lived in Bauchi for a bit, please reach out to me
I’ve missed you guys. I hope I’ll be able to put out something frequently. If I drop 40 newsletters this year, I’m calling it a win
This newsletter is dedicated to Josh. Because he’s the homie.
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Till next time!