Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit Lifts Sanctions
The Authority of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) plays a crucial role in promoting stability and prosperity in the region. In this context, they met, this Saturday, February 24, 2024, in Abuja at an Extraordinary Summit to discuss the decision of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from ECOWAS.
The eventual departure of these countries started a movement that raised concerns and challenges for regional cooperation. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu began the debates, highlighting the importance of finding solutions that promote peace, security and integration among member countries.
As the region faces challenges such as coups d'état, political instability and threats to democracy, ECOWAS takes on a crucial role in finding solutions and promoting sustainable development. In this context, the Extraordinary Summit represents a vital opportunity to reaffirm the commitment to the organization's fundamental values and find ways to overcome present challenges.
Context of the Summit
The withdrawal of these countries from the organization represents a threat to the integrity and effectiveness of ECOWAS, as it undermines collective efforts to promote peace, security and development in the region and raises questions about the future of regional integration and the organization's ability to deal with crises and conflicts within its member states. Therefore.
The Extraordinary Summit was convened in Abuja with the aim of proactively addressing these issues and finding solutions to the challenges faced. It is crucial to highlight that West Africa's stability and prosperity are intrinsically linked to regional cooperation and the ability of member states to work together to address common challenges.
Thus, the Extraordinary Summit represents an opportunity for ECOWAS leaders to reaffirm their commitment to the organization's founding principles and outline strategies to strengthen regional unity and cohesion.
In this context, this Summit is more than a simple discussion about the withdrawal of some countries from ECOWAS; It is a crucial moment for the region's leaders to demonstrate leadership and solidarity, reaffirming their commitment to building a safer and more prosperous future for all West Africans.
President Tinubu's Speech
“The issues although challenging, represent an opportunity for ECOWAS to reaffirm its commitment to the vision of our founders and the principles underlying our commitment to peace, security and regional integration.”
He highlighted that the current situation in the sub-region required difficult but courageous decisions, which would place the situation of the people at the center of deliberations.
In this context, the President of ECOWAS declared that:
“Democracy is nothing more than the political framework and the path to address the basic needs and aspirations of the people.”
“Therefore, we must re-examine our current approach to the pursuit of constitutional order in four of our Member States.”
He also urged the three states that decided to withdraw from ECOWAS to reconsider their decisions and not to perceive the organization as an enemy.
President Tinubu urged his fellow Heads of State to deliberate on the memorandum to be presented by the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Commission on peace and security in the region, as well as the political situation in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger, with a sense of unity and commitment to the well-being of the people.
He also urged that deliberations take into account the need to ensure that citizens of these countries were not deprived of the benefits of regional integration initiatives.
The Appeal of the Founder of ECOWAS
Earlier this week, the sole surviving founder of ECOWAS and former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, in an open letter to the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, urged them to lift sanctions on Burkina Faso, Mali and the Niger and also urged the three countries to withdraw their decision to leave the organization.
The Current ECOWAS Crisis
The region was also recently shaken by the sudden decision of the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, to postpone the country's presidential elections, scheduled for next Sunday, which triggered violent protests in the country.
The three countries announced on January 28 that they wished to leave ECOWAS with immediate effect. However, this request does not meet the statutory conditions for acceptance. Article 91 of the ECOWAS Treaty stipulates that member countries remain bound by their obligations for a period of one year following notification of their withdrawal.
In recent years, West Africa has been the scene of coups d'état, coup attempts or postponement of elections in six countries of its 15 member states.
Eight of the member states are former French colonies – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo -, five were part of the British colonial empire – Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone -, and the remaining two – Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau – are Portuguese-speaking.
ECOWAS Lifts Sanctions on Niger
To the media, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, explained that the lifting of sanctions takes place with immediate effect and is “purely humanitarian”, to alleviate the suffering caused.
“There are specific [individual] sanctions, as well as political sanctions, which remain in force.”
He added, after the first day of the meeting of the bloc of countries, in the capital of Nigeria, Abuja, where the aim is to address the threats facing the region and the desire of the three countries led by military junta to leave ECOWAS.
Niger's borders and airspace will be reopened, financial transactions between ECOWAS countries and Niger will be authorized again, and the assets of the State of Niger will thus be unfrozen, added Alieu Touray.
The person in charge also asked “immediate release” of the deposed President, Mohamed Bazoum, who has been detained, with his wife, by the military regime for seven months.
ECOWAS Lifts Sanctions on Guinea-Conakry and Mali
According to a statement published today, ECOWAS states “lift financial and economic sanctions targeting the Republic of Guinea"and "lift restrictions on the recruitment of citizens of the Republic of Mali for positions within ECOWAS institutions".
Burkina Faso, which is part of the four states run by military regimes since 2020, also subject to Community sanctions, is not mentioned in the regional organization's final statement.
The lifting of sanctions against Guinea-Conakry and Mali had not been mentioned in the speech given by the president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, at the end of the first day of the Summit.
The Final Decisions
The following day, the head of the military junta announced by decree the dissolution of the Government in office since July 2022.
In Mali, which experienced two coups d'état in 2020 and 2021, the regional bloc had imposed economic and financial sanctions that it lifted in July 2022, when the ruling junta announced a transition timetable.
ECOWAS “decided to lift with immediate effect” the heaviest sanctions imposed on Niger since the seizure of power, in Niamey, by a military regime that ousted elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July, Omar Alieu Touray had announced on Saturday.
Niamey's military leaders are also once again authorized to travel, but “individual and political sanctions” remain in place, according to Omar Alieu Touray.
These decisions mark a step by ECOWAS towards resuming dialogue with the three military regimes, while Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which distanced themselves from France and moved closer to Russia, announced in January their intention to leave ECOWAS and creating the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in September 2023.
Conclusion
Picture: © 2024 ECOWAS
