The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced on Saturday that it would lift sanctions against Niger’s military junta, ostensibly on humanitarian grounds, but ECOWAS appears to be losing the battle of wills with the military regimes of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Minister of ECOWAS met Emergency closed-door talks on the military regime crisis were held in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Saturday.west african economic zone imposed From 2020 to 2023, the military regime imposed harsh sanctions on Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali after overthrowing the civilian governments.
Malians supporting the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita gather in the capital Bamako for celebrations, August 21, 2020 (AP Photo)
In contrast, the three military regimes announced They announced they would leave ECOWAS at the end of January, claiming that it had lost the “spirit of pan-Africanism” and was falling “under the influence of foreign powers.”
The junta said ECOWAS’ sanctions against them were “unlawful, inhumane and irresponsible.” They said they intended to create their own trilateral coalition called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Niger also accused countries of obstructing the “ongoing fight against terrorism and insecurity.”niger military junta leader Claim They had to seize power because deposed President Mohamed Bazoum was too vulnerable to terrorism.
On August 6, 2023, Mohamed Tumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigeria’s President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger’s ruling military junta in Niamey. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
In August 2023, when ECOWAS threatened military intervention to restore Niger’s elected government, Burkina Faso and Mali said they would fight to protect Niger, disrupting more than $150 billion in West African trade. He said it was possible. After that, there was little talk of restoring the three countries’ governments by force.
ECOWAS emerged from a closed-door meeting on Saturday to announce it would lift sanctions, unfreeze Niger’s financial assets, lift trade restrictions with Niger and reopen its borders immediately. ECOWAS President Omar Touray said some “targeted” and “political” sanctions against Niger’s military regime would continue, but he did not specify which sanctions would be applied.
The statement also lifted some sanctions against Guinea. fell into a coup Although it withdrew in 2021, it did not join other military regimes in leaving ECOWAS. Guinea’s military government claimed to have dissolved the “interim government” but did not say what would replace it or whether elections would be held.
People celebrate in the streets with members of the Guinean Armed Forces after Guinea’s President Alpha Conde was arrested in a coup in Conakry on September 5, 2021. (CELLOU BINANI/AFP via Getty Images)
The ECOWAS statement concluded with an open plea to Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali to reconsider their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS. Military leaders from the three countries were encouraged to consider “the benefits that ECOWAS member states and their peoples enjoy in their communities.”
The statement also included a call for Niger to consider the release of ousted President Bazoum and to develop an “acceptable transition schedule” for a return to civilian rule. – It was clear that President Tinubu was no longer trying. To dictate terms to the military regime.
“There is a need to reconsider the current approach to the pursuit of constitutional order in the four member states,” Tinubu said at the beginning of an emergency meeting involving Guinea and the three AES military regimes.
International Crisis Group (ICG) Said In December, ECOWAS, and Tinubu in particular, said they were underestimating the backlash from sanctions against the junta.
[The sanctions] These have adversely affected Nigeria, adversely affected Nigeria and caused serious hardship to Nigeria. It has crippled the vibrant cross-border economy that straddles the long Nigeria-Niger border, disrupted livelihoods, exacerbated humanitarian challenges and jeopardized major rail and gas projects that could boost regional trade. ing. On the political front, sanctions threaten to undermine bilateral cooperation on a range of important issues, including security.
… The purpose of the ECOWAS sanctions was to pressure Niger’s de facto military authorities to reinstate Bazoum, but that has not happened. Meanwhile, many of the effects of the far-reaching measures are being felt by civilians as well.
ECOWAS sanctions have cut Niger off from many traditional trading partners and exacerbated chronic food insecurity among vulnerable populations. The military government maintains relations with neighboring countries Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali, all of which are under military rule and are considered allies. However, borders with Benin and Nigeria, two countries from which Niger typically imports food and other critical necessities, remain closed. As a result, residents are suffering from shortages of imported food items such as medicines, grains, sugar, powdered milk, and vegetable oil.
The ICG indicated that international pressure is mounting on ECOWAS as sanctions have made it extremely difficult to provide humanitarian assistance to Niger. Among other issues, the closure of the border with Nigeria has forced aid shipments to use riskier alternative routes, and the loss of imported electricity to Niger has plunged large parts of the country into darkness.
The sanctions also dealt a brutal blow to Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which typically employs Nigerian workers in the fields and sells large quantities of produce across the border. This ripple effect has increased food insecurity in both Niger and Nigeria.
