Junta-run Mali, which has broken off ties with France, announced Tuesday, March 18, it was quitting an international group of French-speaking countries, a day after its allies Niger and Burkina Faso did the same. "Mali cannot remain a member of an organization whose actions are incompatible with constitutional principles (...) based on the sovereignty of the state," the foreign ministry said in a letter to its French counterpart, referring to the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).
Mali was suspended from the organization – a post-colonial entity that resembles the Commonwealth – in August 2020 after a military coup, which toppled its president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. The OIF had called for the release of Keïta, in power since 2013 at the helm of the West African country, which for years has faced a security, political and economic crisis. It had also called for the speedy setting up of a transition government led by civilians.
On Monday, fellow junta-led states Burkina Faso and Niger, which have also turned their backs on former colonial power France while forging ties with Russia, announced their withdrawal from the OIF. The three have also left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to form their own Sahel confederation.
Niger was also suspended from the OIF after a military coup toppled its elected president Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023. The OIF is based in Paris and seeks to promote the French language and political, educational, economic and cultural cooperation among its 93 member countries.