ECOWAS lifts sanctions on Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Saturday lifted the economic sanctions imposed on Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea.

The decision was adopted in Abuja during the extraordinary summit on the political, security, and peace conditions in the ECOWAS subregion.

Announcing the Authority’s resolutions, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, said it 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 authority said the move was “based on humanitarian considerations due to lent and the approaching month of Ramadan.”

It also lifted sanctions on the election of Mali citizens to ECOWAS positions.

ECOWAS, had in 2023, imposed economic sanctions on these four member countries for failure of their military rulers to return the countries to democracy.