Junta-led Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso will officially quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Wednesday, following years of deteriorating relations that have redefined trade routes across the fractured region.

After overthrowing civilian governments between 2020 and 2023, the military leaders in the three countries broke ties with ECOWAS and teamed up to form the Confederation of Sahel States (AES).

ECOWAS imposed heavy economic sanctions in the wake of the coups, fraying diplomatic ties and forcing the juntas to look for new routes to transport goods in and out of the landlocked states.

Before relations soured, 80 percent of Niger's freight passed through Benin's southern city of Cotonou -which hosts the closest port to Niamey.

But the two neighbours are now at loggerheads. Despite the lifting of ECOWAS sanctions, Niger refuses to open its border with Benin, which it accuses of hosting jihadist bases and of trying to "destabilise" it.

A similar story has played out in Ivory Coast, where Abidjan's port saw a drop in road freight in the first half of 2024.

This was "mainly due to the diplomatic crisis" between Ivory Coast and the junta-led allies in the Sahel, according to a document from the Ivorian transport ministry.

Togo and Guinea meanwhile enjoy smoother relations with the AES countries, making the ports of Lome and Conakry key transit points.

At the height of ECOWAS sanctions against Mali in 2022, Malian freight passing through Conakry increased by 243 percent compared with the previous year, a port representative in Bamako told AFP.

But the new trade routes come with fresh challenges.

Transiting goods via Togo forces trucks to make long and perilous detours, particularly to reach Niger, taking them through volatile regions plagued by deadly jihadist attacks.

An OECD study published at the end of last year said that this re-routing "leads to an increase of more than 100 percent in logistics costs compared with the pre-crisis route, with repercussions on food prices".

Traders in the Malian market in Senegal's capital Dakar had mixed reactions to the Sahel states' departure from the West African bloc.

Their break with ECOWAS is a "problem between states" and will not impact the supply of goods, said Ousmane Diouf, who sells jewellery and other products from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Malian fabric seller Mohamed Konate said he feared for the immediate future, noting that customs duties had increased in recent years.

"There's uncertainty on the horizon", he said.

AFP

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Political tensions shake up trade routes in fractured West Africa