Despite “zero tolerance” for coups
Ecowas lifts economic sanctions against Niger
February 25, 2024, 4:12 a.m
The West African community of states Ecowas reacted harshly to the military coup in Niger last summer. The neighboring countries are even threatening war. The alliance says the fact that Ecowas is now giving in has nothing to do with a change in attitude towards the putschists.
Almost seven months after the coup in Niger, the West African community of states Ecowas has lifted most of its sanctions against the country. The economic, trade and travel sanctions against the landlocked country would be ended with immediate effect, said Ecowas Commission President Omar Alieu Touray following an extraordinary summit of the group in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
“The heads of state and government have considered it important and necessary to lift the sanctions for purely humanitarian reasons,” Touray said. “Ecowas maintains its zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government.” The political and individual sanctions against Niger and the other member states Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea ruled by the military after coups remained in place, said Touray. The states thus remain suspended from the Ecowas institutions.
The sanctions against Niger that have now been lifted included the closure of the borders to member countries, the blocking of banking transactions, a ban on overflights for Nigerien aircraft and the freezing of Nigerien bank balances. Nigeria had also cut off the electricity supply to Niger, on which the neighboring inland country was largely dependent. The trade sanctions had a severe impact on the approximately 27 million inhabitants of Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world.
In Niger, at the end of July 2023, the military under the leadership of ex-Presidential Guard chief Abdourahamane Tiani deposed the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The coup triggered a serious diplomatic crisis in the region. Ecowas, under the chairmanship of Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, even decided on a military intervention to restore constitutional order in the country, but this never materialized. Diplomatic efforts repeatedly failed. At the end of January, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the community of states, which, according to the statutes, will take effect at the end of January 2025.