• Leader of Mali's ruling junta Lt. Col. Assimi Goita, center, attends an Independence Day military parade in Bamako, Mali, on Sept. 22, 2022 (AP Photo, File)

Mali, governed by a military junta that has severed ties with its former colonial ruler France, announced on Tuesday its withdrawal from the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), aligning with its regional allies, Burkina Faso and Niger.

"Mali cannot remain a member of an organisation whose actions are incompatible with constitutional principles... based on the sovereignty of the state," the Malian Foreign Ministry stated in a letter to its French counterpart.

Mali had already been suspended from the OIF in August 2020 following a military coup that deposed then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The OIF, a post-colonial entity akin to the Commonwealth, had called for Keita’s release and urged a swift transition to civilian governance.

On Monday, Burkina Faso and Niger, both ruled by military juntas and distancing themselves from France while strengthening ties with Russia, also announced their departure from the OIF. The three nations had previously exited the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to establish their own Sahelian confederation.

Niger, like Mali, had been suspended from the OIF following the July 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Headquartered in Paris, the OIF promotes the French language as well as political, educational, economic, and cultural cooperation among its 93 member states.

In a broader effort to erase colonial legacies, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have renamed streets and squares in their capitals, replacing nearly 25 French colonial-era names in Bamako alone. French was Mali’s sole official language when it gained independence in 1960.