Sanctions against Niger, Mali, and Guinea are lifted by ECOWAS
The Niger Republic, Mali, and Guinea will no longer be subject to certain sanctions, as decided by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to Channels TV, the resolution was adopted yesterday in Abuja during the extraordinary summit on the political, security, and peace conditions in the ECOWAS subregion.
The regional bloc removed some financial and economic sanctions against Guinea and other sanctions against Mali, but it maintained that the targeted and political sanctions against the Niger Republic would remain in place.
ECOWAS imposed a number of sanctions on Niger Republic after President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown by a military coup on July 26, 2023.
However, in reading the statement following the West African bloc’s emergency summit on Saturday, Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, listed some of the penalties the Authorities resolved to lift.
They include the closure of land and air borders between all ECOWAS countries and Niger Republic; no flight zone to all commercial flights to and from the Niger Republic, suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger Republic and freezing of all service transactions including utility services.
Other sanctions on Niger lifted are the freezing of assets of Niger Republic in all ECOWAS Central banks; freezing of assets of Niger State and the state enterprises and parastatals in commercial banks; suspension of Niger Republic from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions lifted and travel bans on the military officials and their families involved in the coup attempt.
Touray said that the decision by ECOWAS is based on humanitarian considerations especially “as we are in the month of Lent and as we prepare for the holy month of Ramadan”.
He noted that the authority also resolved to lift the sanctions regarding the recruitment of Malian citizens in statutory and professional positions within ECOWAS as well as lifting financial and economic sanctions on the Republic of Guinea.
The ECOWAS President added that he has been instructed by the Commission to invite Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and Guinea to attend the technical and consultative meetings of ECOWAS as well as all security-related meetings.
ECOWAS directed all its institutions, member states, and other regional institutions to implement these decisions.
