West Africa leaders meet as region struggles with coups

By AFP
December 11, 2023

ABUJA: West African leaders met in Nigeria´s capital Abuja on Sunday for talks on their region in deepening crisis, after four countries fell under military rule and with risks growing from Sahel jihadist conflicts.

After coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020, the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS saw member states Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau report attempted coups in recent weeks.

A general view of attendees during the 64th Economic Community of West African States Head of States and Government ordinary session in Abuja on December 10, 2023. — AFP
A general view of attendees during the 64th Economic Community of West African States Head of States and Government ordinary session in Abuja on December 10, 2023. — AFP

A French military withdrawal from the Sahel -- the region along the Sahara desert across Africa -- has heightened concerns over conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.