ECOWAS lifts sanctions on Niger

The West African regional bloc removed most sanctions imposed on Niger following last year’s coup, as part of a renewed effort for dialogue amid recent political crises in the region. Sanctions such as a no-fly zone and border closures are being lifted “with immediate effect,” announced Omar Alieu Touray, the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, after the bloc’s summit in Abuja, Nigeria.

However, Touray stressed that the decision to lift sanctions is based solely on humanitarian grounds to alleviate the suffering caused by the sanctions.

ECOWAS calls for the return of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso

The summit aimed to address existential threats in the region and urged three military-led nations – Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso – which had withdrawn from the bloc after recent coups, to reconsider their decision. Despite their suspension from ECOWAS, the bloc has called for their return.

ECOWAS Chairman and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, in his opening remarks, stressed the need to reevaluate the approach to restoring constitutional order in the suspended countries and Guinea, which is also under military rule. Tinubu urged Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to reconsider their decision, emphasizing that the organization should not be perceived as an adversary.

ECOWAS also announced the lifting of certain sanctions on individuals in Mali and some sanctions on the junta-led Guinea, which, while not expressing a desire to leave the bloc, has not committed to a timeline for returning to democratic rule. Touray mentioned that specific targeted and political sanctions still remain in place for Niger, without providing further details.

Conditions to lifting of the sanctions

Nevertheless, Touray mentioned that ECOWAS has attached “some conditions” to the lifting of the sanctions. The organization wants the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and members of his family. President Bazoum of Niger was ousted in a military coup last July, leading ECOWAS to suspend trade and impose sanctions on the country. Bazoum remains incarcerated in the presidential palace in Niamey. Ahead of the summit, his legal representatives urged ECOWAS to demand his release.

Earlier in the week, General Yakubu Gowon, a co-founder of ECOWAS and former Nigerian military leader, called for the lifting of “all sanctions imposed on Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger.”

Regional integration at risk

There was a change in ECOWAS’s tone, language, and approach towards the sanctions on the three West African countries even before the summit. The decision to ease sanctions is viewed as an act of appeasement as ECOWAS seeks to persuade the three states to reconsider their withdrawal from the nearly 50-year-old alliance. Their departure would disrupt regional integration efforts and result in a complex disentanglement from the bloc’s annual trade and services flows, valued at nearly $150 billion.

On Saturday, ECOWAS provided the three military-led countries with “an opportunity to be members of the organization once again.” However, they were asked to participate in “technical discussions of the ECOWAS bloc” without being fully restored as participating heads of state at summits or major conferences.

The formation of the Alliance of Sahel States by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, announcing their permanent withdrawal from ECOWAS, had a significant impact on the organization itself. Political analysts expressed concerns about ECOWAS losing momentum and the potential fragmentation of the organization. There is also apprehension that without reintegrating these countries, the risk of coups spreading in West Africa may increase.