The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has resolved to lift some sanctions on Niger Republic, Mali and Guinea.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the resolution was taken at the extraordinary summit on the peace, political, and security situation in the ECOWAS sub-region in Abuja on Saturday.
While the regional bloc said the political and targeted sanctions on the Niger Republic remain, it lifted some financial and economic sanctions on Guinea and other sanctions on Mali.
ECOWAS placed a number of sanctions on Niger Republic after President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown by a military coup on July 26, 2023.
However, while reading the statement following the West African bloc’s emergency conference on Saturday, Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, listed some of the sanctions that the Authority decided to waive.
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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.