Leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gathered to assess efforts to secure timetables for the restoration of civilian rule in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lifted economic and financial sanctions imposed on Mali after its military rulers proposed a 24-month transition to democracy and published a new electoral law.
The bloc imposed tough sanctions on Mali in January after the military government said it would not hold democratic elections next month as originally planned.
ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Cassie Bru said at a press conference on Sunday that the sanctions would be lifted immediately. Borders with Mali will be reopened and regional diplomats will return to Bamako.
“Nevertheless, the heads of state decided to maintain the individual sanctions and the suspension of Mali from ECOWAS until the return to constitutional rule,” Cassie Bru said.
Individual sanctions targeted members of the ruling military government and transitional council.
Sanctions have crippled Mali’s economy, raising humanitarian concerns amid widespread suffering. The country has defaulted on more than $300 million of its debt because of the sanctions, which cut it off from the regional financial market and the regional central bank.
The ECOWAS mediator in Mali, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, visited the country last week. A member of his entourage told AFP that Mali had made “enormous progress”.
Mali’s top diplomat, Abdoulaye Diop, said on Friday that recent political developments are moving the country towards lifting sanctions.
Transitions between Burkina Faso and Guinea
ECOWAS leaders gathered to assess efforts to provide timetables and other guarantees for the restoration of civilian rule in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
Mali experienced coups in August 2020 and May 2021, followed by Guinea in September 2021 and Burkina Faso this January.
A meeting of West African leaders in Accra also accepted a pledge by the military that seized power in Burkina Faso to restore constitutional order in 24 months.
Cassi Bru said that after a long discussion with Burkina Faso’s coup leaders, a new proposal for a 24-month transition was more acceptable after heads of state rejected the proposed 36-month transition.
Economic and financial sanctions against Burkina Faso were also lifted, he said.
The situation appears more complicated in Guinea, whose military government rejected an ECOWAS mediator and announced a 36-month transition – a period African Union chairman and Senegalese president Macky Sall described as “unthinkable”.
ECOWAS leaders rejected the three-year transition. They told Guinea’s military to come up with a new schedule by the end of July or face economic sanctions.
The heads of state named former Benin President Bonny Yai as the new mediator and called on Guinea’s military government to work with him and quickly propose a new timetable.
“In addition, economic sanctions will be imposed,” Cassie Bru said.
The political upheaval came as many observers began to see military power grabs as a thing of the past in West Africa, an increasingly restive region that also faces a growing threat from armed groups.
Some leaders who spoke at the one-day summit in Accra called for action as armed groups expand their footprint in the region.
“These terrorist attacks are now not only focused on the Sahel, but are also expanding to coastal states in our region,” said Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo. “It is imperative for us to continue to implement our regional counter-terrorism action plan and coordinate our various security initiatives.”
In the first half of 2022, the region recorded a total of 3,500 deaths from 1,600 attacks targeting countries including Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria, according to Cassie Brough.
In Burkina Faso, where attacks blamed on armed groups are on the rise, gunmen killed at least 55 people in the country’s northern Seno province last month.
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