West African leaders on Sunday lifted sanctions on Mali’s military regime, accepting a March 2024 return to civilian rule and agreed to allow Burkina Faso two years for its transition back to democracy.
Heads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Ghana’s capital Accra to assess efforts to secure guarantees for restoring civilian rule in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
Mali underwent coups in August 2020 and May 2021, followed by Guinea in September 2021 and Burkina Faso this January. Fearing contagion in a region known for military takeovers, ECOWAS imposed tough trade and economic sanctions against Mali, but lesser punishments against Guinea and Burkina.
The decision also demands no military junta member run as a candidate in Mali’s future presidential election, according to one ECOWAS delegate. ECOWAS in January had imposed a trade and financial embargo on Mali after its military government unveiled a scheme to rule for five years.
The sanctions have badly hit the poor, landlocked Sahel state, whose economy is already under severe strain from a decade-long jihadist insurgency.
After months of talks, Malian authorities on Wednesday approved a plan to hold presidential elections in February 2024. The vote will be preceded by a referendum on a revised constitution in March 2023 and legislative elections in late 2023.
The ECOWAS mediator in Mali, former Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan, visited the country last week. A member of his entourage had told AFP Mali had made “enormous progress”.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
