The heads of state of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting on Saturday February 24 in Abuja, decided to lift a large part of the sanctions against Niger.

ECOWAS “has decided to lift with immediate effect” the heaviest sanctions imposed on the country since the seizure of power in Niamey by a military regime that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July, announced Omar Alieu Touray, the president of the ECOWAS Commission on Saturday afternoon.

Niger’s borders and airspace will be reopened, financial transactions between ECOWAS countries and Niger will be authorized again, and Niger state assets will be thawed, “for humanitarian reasons”, declared Omar Alieu Touray. “Individual and political sanctions remain in place,” he added without providing further details.

He also called for “the immediate release” of deposed Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum, detained with his wife by the military regime for seven months. Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, also led by military regimes and under ECOWAS sanctions, are not affected by these announcements.

The regional organization had convened a new extraordinary summit on Saturday to discuss “politics, peace and security in the Republic of Niger”, it announced the day before in a press release, as well as “recent developments in the region “.

“We must review our approach to the return of constitutional order in four of our member countries,” declared in the introduction the Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who holds the presidency of ECOWAS, in reference to Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea.

Three countries in a new alliance

These sanctions have hit this Sahelian country hard, where the extreme poverty rate exceeds 40% according to the World Bank. ECOWAS first threatened the new regime in Niamey with military intervention, before backing down.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which notably turned their backs on France and moved closer to Russia, came together within an Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The three countries announced in January their intention to leave ECOWAS.

In mid-February, the head of the Nigerien military regime, General Abdourahamane Tiani, spoke of the possible creation of a common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali, as a “step out” of “colonization”. The announcement of the Burkinabé, Nigerien and Malian withdrawal from ECOWAS has raised the concern of hundreds of thousands of nationals of these countries, individuals and traders.

ECOWAS guarantees citizens of the 15 member countries the ability to travel without a visa and to establish themselves in member countries to work or reside there. ECOWAS members last met on February 9 when they called for “reconciliation” with the military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso and urged them to remain in the regional bloc.