![West Africa](https://cdn.newsserve.net/en/knowledge/West-Africa_20190218.jpg)
West African bloc risks 'disintegration' if juntas quit
The military leaders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso say they are leaving Ecowas and forming a new alliance.
BBC News
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The population of West Africa is estimated at 419 million people as of 2021, and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 were female and 192,309,000 male. The region is demographically and economically one of the fastest growing on the African continent.
The military leaders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso say they are leaving Ecowas and forming a new alliance.