Military Coup and Regional Integration in Africa: Themes, Trends and Threats to ECOWAS

Adias; Jessica Charles; Chilaka; Francis Chigozie

doi:10.56201/jpslr.vol.12.no3.2026.pg21.33

📄 Download Paper

Military Coup and Regional Integration in Africa: Themes, Trends and Threats to ECOWAS

Adias, Jessica Charles, Chilaka, Francis Chigozie

Abstract

West Africa in the past decade has witnessed an alarming resurgence of military coups. This article examines the implications of this coup wave for regional integration as it affects Economic Community of West African States using democratic theory as its framework. This article is predicated upon qualitative method of research, utilizing secondary sources of data collection from Journals, newspaper publications, online news outlets, official documents, etc. Anchored on the preceding methodology, we reviewed the literature on African coups and regional integration. This is followed by analysis of case studies of the coups in Mali (2020, 2021), Guinea (2021), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023). These cases illustrate how unconstitutional power seizures have undermined democratic governance and weakened ECOWAS’s integration agenda. ECOWAS’s response ranging from membership suspension, sanction imposition, and deploying mediators, have had mixed results. Democratic theory suggests that coups erode the legitimacy and consent which are at the heart of democracy, leading to political instability which fractures cooperative schemes such as integration. Our article reveals that coups indeed threaten ECOWAS integration-with the new “Alliance of Sahel States” withdrawal exposing the fragility of the regional body. The paper concludes that ECOWAS must address issues of trust, governance failures more proactively by strengthening democracy, rule of law, regional dialogue among member states if the ECOWAS integration goal is to survive these challenges.

Keywords

Military CoupRegional IntegrationECOWASTrendsThreats

References

Akorlie, C., & Diallo, T. (2022, January 10). West African nations sever links with Mali over election delay. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mali-eyes-elections-four- years-west-african-bloc-mulls-sanctions-2022-01-09/ Al Jazeera. (2023, November 22). Niger government asks court to force ECOWAS to lift coup sanctions. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/22/niger-asks-west-africas-court-to- compel-neighbors-to-lift-coup-sanctions-citing-hardship Al Jazeera. (2024, January 28). Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso announce withdrawal from ECOWAS. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/28/niger-mali-burkina-faso-announce- withdrawal-from-ecowas Al Jazeera. (2024, February 24). ECOWAS lifts sanctions on Niger amid tensions in West Africa bloc. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/24/ecowas-lifts-sanctions-on-niger-amid- tensions-in-west-africa-bloc Amani Africa. (2024). The withdrawal of AES from ECOWAS: An opportunity for re-evaluating existing instruments for regional integration? Ideas Indaba. https://amaniafrica-et.org/the- withdrawal-of-aes-from-ecowas-an-opportunity-for-re-evaluating-existing-instruments- for-regional-integration/ Avoulete, K. (2025, May 22). Will ECOWAS survive until 2030? Foreign Policy Research Institute. https://www.fpri.org/article/2025/05/will-ecowas-survive-until-2030/ Balima, B., & Aksar, M. (2023, July 28). Niger coup widely condemned, countries urge return to order. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/niger-president-says-democracy- will-be-saved-following-coup-2023-07-27/ Chilaka, F. C., & Oyinmiebi, P. T. (2022). Resurgence of military coups in West Africa: Implications for ECOWAS. African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, 5(2), 52–64. Darko, S. (2015). West African leaders shelves third-term ban proposal. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32808685 Gibb, R. (2009). Regional integration and Africa’s development trajectory: metatheories, expectations and reality. Third World Quarterly, 30(4), 701–720. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590902867136 Kimbugwe, K., Perdikis, N., Yeung, M. T., & Kerr, W. A. (2012). Regional Integration Theory. Economic Development Through Regional Trade, 76–98. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369924_4 Krapohl, S., & Fink, S. (2013). Different paths of regional integration: Trade networks and regional institution-building in Europe , Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. Journal of Common Market Studies, 51(3), 472–488. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12012 Ndiaga, T., & Akorlie, C. (2022, January 28). West African bloc suspends Burkina Faso after military coup. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/w-african-bloc-ecowas- suspends-burkina-faso-after-military-coup-sources-2022-01-28/ Odigbo, J., Ezekwelu, K. C., & Okeke, R. C. (2023). Democracy’s discontent and the resurgence of military coups in Africa. Journal of Contemporary International Relations and Diplomacy, 4(1), 644-655 Olubiyo, K. G., & Ayodele, I.-O. A. (2024). Beyond sanctions: ECOWAS and the resurgence of military coups in West Africa. ABUAD Journal of Social and Management Sciences, 5(2), 341–357. https://doi.org/10.53982/ajsms.2024.0502.07-j E-ISSN 2504-883X P-ISSN 2695 2432 Peyton, N., McAllister, E., & Christensen, S. (2022, September 30). Burkina Faso soldiers announce overthrow of military government. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/heavy-gunfire-heard-burkina-faso-capital-reuters- witnesses-2022-09-30/ Reuters. (2021, May 31). West African bloc suspends Mali over coup, but no new sanctions. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mali-coup-leader-attend-emergency-west-african- summit-2021-05-30/ Reuters. (2023, August 22). West Africa’s ECOWAS rejects Niger junta’s proposed three-year delay for elections. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/west-africas-ecowas-rejects- niger-juntas-proposed-three-year-delay-hold-2023-08-21/ Samb, S. (2021, September 9). West African regional bloc suspends Guinea after coup. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/guinean-political-prisoners-freed-regional-bloc- discuss-coup-2021-09-08/

Military Coup and Regional Integration in Africa: Themes, Trends and Threats to ECOWAS

Abstract

Keywords

References

More Articles from JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LEADERSHIP RESEARCH