The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on Saturday, February 24, 2024, lifted all the sanctions imposed on Niger, Mali, and Burkina-Faso with immediate effect, urging its withdrawing member states to reconsider their decision given the benefits enjoyed by their citizens.
This decision followed hours-long deliberations by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at an extraordinary summit on the political, peace, and security situation in the region at the State House, Abuja.
Announcing the resolutions of the organisation, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, said that apart from lifting economic sanctions, the Commission has suspended the closure of the land and air border to Niger, a no-fly zone of all commercial flights.
It has also suspended the freezing of all financial transactions between ECOWAS states and Niger, including transactions relating to the bloc’s central bank and the unfreezing of all of Niger’s assets at EBID.
It also lifted the travel ban on members of the military junta and their families.
The Commission also lifted sanctions on the election of Mali citizens to ECOWAS positions, and sanctions on Guinea, thereby inviting all four countries to attend technical consultative meetings of ECOWAS going forward.
Touray noted the move is “based on humanitarian considerations due to lent and the approaching month of Ramadan.”
