West African bloc keeps sanctions against junta regimes in place

According to a statement seen by AFP on Sunday, West African leaders have upheld sanctions placed on three military-ruled nations in the unstable Sahel area and dashed expectations of joining the regional grouping.

After military coups since 2020, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso are suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The leaders of ECOWAS gathered in Addis Abeba on the eve of the African Union summit to review the sanctions and go over the status of restoring civilian rule in the three nations.

The group issued a statement on Sunday that it had signed on Saturday: “The Authority of Heads of State and Governments decided to maintain the existing sanctions on all three countries.”

ECOWAS also voted to put travel restrictions on senior leaders and government personnel in those nations, it was noted.

Mali was subjected to severe trade and economic sanctions by ECOWAS, which also imposed less severe measures on Guinea and Burkina Faso out of concern for the spread of military coups in the area.

The sanctions have had a significant negative impact on landlocked, impoverished Mali, whose economy has already been severely strained by a ten-year jihadist war.

In February, the three nations decided to cooperate in the effort to have their suspensions from the African Union and ECOWAS lifted.

In Mali and Burkina Faso, juntas have taken control amid frustration with the military over the toll of a terrorist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

Several factors led to the coup in Guinea, which was sparked by public outrage over the country’s previous president, Alpha Conde, for taking a turn towards authoritarianism.

ECOWAS is putting pressure on all three nations to promptly revert to civilian control by 2024 for Mali and Burkina Faso and a year later for Guinea.

The head of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, announced on Friday that the organization’s peace and security council would convene at an undefined time to decide whether to readmit Sudan and the other three nations.

In a speech to the AU summit on Saturday, Faki said the pan-African bloc needed to consider fresh approaches to fend off the democratisation backslide.

He claimed that sanctions imposed on member states in response to illegitimate political changes “do not seem to produce the intended results.”

To make the system of opposition to the unconstitutional changes more effective, it appears necessary to reexamine it.