The heads of state of ECOWAS decided on Saturday after an extraordinary summit to lift part of the sanctions against Niger, the regional organization's commission president said in Abuja.
Published on: February 24, 2024 – 4:41 p.m. Modified on: February 24, 2024 – 5:45 p.m
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The heads of state of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided on Saturday, February 24, to lift part of the sanctions against Niger, the President of the Regional Organization Commission announced in Abuja.
ECOWAS “has decided to lift with immediate effect the most severe sanctions imposed on Niger since the seizure of power in Niamey by a military regime that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July,” ECOWAS President Omar Alieu Touray announced. known.
Niger's borders and airspace would be reopened, financial transactions between ECOWAS countries and Niger would be reauthorized and Nigerian state assets would be thawed “for humanitarian reasons,” he added.
“The individual and political sanctions remain in place,” he added, without giving further details.
The ECOWAS President also called for the “immediate release” of ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, who was detained along with his wife by the military regime for seven months.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, which are also run by military regimes and are under ECOWAS sanctions, are not affected by these announcements.
“Check our approach”
The regional organization convened a new extraordinary summit on Saturday to discuss “politics, peace and security in the Republic of Niger,” as it said in a press release the day before, as well as “recent developments in the region.”
“We need to review our approach to restoring constitutional order in four of our member countries,” said Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who holds the presidency of ECOWAS, in the introduction, referring to Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea.
These sanctions have hit Niger hard, a country in the Sahel region where the extreme poverty rate is over 40%, according to the World Bank.
ECOWAS initially threatened the new regime in Niamey with military intervention before backing down.
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which in particular turned away from France and moved closer to Russia, joined together to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and announced in January that they wanted to leave ECOWAS.
In mid-February, the head of the Nigerian military regime, General Abdourahamane Tiani, spoke of the possible creation of a common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali as an “exit” from “colonization”.
The announcement of the withdrawal of Burkinabè, Nigeria and Mali from ECOWAS is causing concern among hundreds of thousands of nationals of these countries, individuals and traders. In fact, ECOWAS guarantees the citizens of the 15 member countries that they can travel without a visa and settle freely in the member countries for work or residence.
“Reconciliation”
The last meeting of ECOWAS members was on February 9, when they called for “reconciliation” with the military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso and urged them to remain in the regional bloc.
ECOWAS is also being tested by the political crisis experienced by Senegal since President Macky Sall postponed presidential elections, but this issue was not addressed on Saturday.
The Senegalese president, who was not present at the previous summit, is present this time, two days after he announced that he would end his mandate on April 2, without setting a deadline. New date for the presidential election.
The vote was originally scheduled for February 25, but President Macky Sall postponed it in early February, plunging Senegal into one of the worst political crises in its post-independence history and raising deep concerns within ECOWAS ranks.
With AFP