Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will have a six-month grace period after their scheduled exit from West Africa's main political and economic group next month during which the ECOWAS bloc will try to persuade them to stay,

West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS approved Sunday an exit timeline for three coup-hit nations after a nearly yearlong process of mediation to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the grouping. In a first in the 15-nation bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence,

The move by ECOWAS comes after a nearly yearlong process of mediation to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the grouping.

In a first in the 15-nation bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence, the military juntas of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced in January that they have decided to leave ECOWAS

West African leaders gave military leaders from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso more time to reconsider their split from the regional economic bloc in a final attempt to avoid its fracture.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger had military coups in recent years and plan to leave the West African region bloc. At talks in Abuja, they were given until July to reconsider their looming exit.West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS gave Mali,