By Mustapha Musa Kaita
More than a week after the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, lifted economic sanctions on Niger, Mali and Guinea, reports indicate that little has changed on the ground especially in normalising cross-border movement of goods and services.
ECOWAS had imposed the sanctions on Niger, Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso as a way of pressuring them to return to democracy following military coups.
The sanctions included freezing the finances of the juntas, closing land and air borders and disrupting electricity supply to Niger from neighbouring Nigeria.
After long-running tesions, the regional bloc lifted the sanctions on Niger, Mali and Guinea on February 24 with no words on Burkina Faso.
'Administrative matter'
This comes as ECOWAS pushes for dialogue with the juntas of the countries, all of whom except Guinea, have announced their withdrawal from the bloc.
The lifting of the sanctions was expected to ease political tensions and economic hardship. But Niger's border with Nigeria and with Benin, for example, remains closed.
President of the ECOWAS Commission Omar Alieu Touray believes obstacles to the reopening of the borders will be addressed soon in line with the bloc's lifting of the sanctions.
''If the borders remain closed, that could simply be an administrative issue. As you know, decisions are taken and before it trickles down to the ground level it may take some time or a day or two, but the political decision has been taken to open all the borders between ECOWAS member states and Niger,'' Touray told TRT Afrika on Saturday at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye.
''I want to believe that is just an administrative matter that should be resolved very shortly,'' the ECOWAS official said.
The juntas of Mali, Niger and Guinea have not yet commented publicly on the lifting of the ECOWAS sanctions. But had been complaining that the measures were unfair and were hurting their populations.
'Humanitarian consideration'
''The sanctions have been imposed for a reason, and the decision to lift them, particularly sanctions on Niger, is based on humanitarian consideration,'' Touray explained.
''As you know, we are in the lent period, the Ramadan is coming and it is felt that the sanctions should be lifted to ensure that their impact on the population is not as strong as it could be,'' he added.
The West African regional body has been faced with numerous challenges in recent years including a wave of military coups since 2020.
“We must re-examine our current approach to the quest for constitutional order in our member states,” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and current chairman of ECOWAS said at the bloc's summit in Abuja last week.
Tinubu urged countries exiting the bloc to rescind their decision and ''not to perceive our organization as the enemy.”
Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of ECOWAS and its future after three of its junta-led members - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger - announced an unprecedented collective withdrawal from the bloc, accusing it of unfair and ''inhumane'' treatment.
'ECOWAS major achievement'
But the commission's president said the group has made a lot of progress in its existence since 1975 citing the region's free movement policy, which he said is the first of its kind in Africa.
He described it as a ''major achievement'' as citizens of ECOWAS countries move without any visa requirement which fosters economic and social integration.
He said challenges in organisations like ECOWAS are always inevitable. ''I believe the strength of the Community does not lie in having no problems but mainly in its ability to resolve such problems,'' he stressed.
ECOWAS had threatened to use force to reverse Niger's July 2023 coup that brought General Abdourahmane Tiani to power. It vowed to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.
This prompted Niger's junta-led neighbours - Mali and Burkina Faso - to come to its aid and collectively announced an security alliance aimed at defending each other. After months of tensions, ECOWAS, rescinded the military intervention decision in favour of dialogue with the junta.
Multiple problems
Touray once again called on the disgruntled members of ECOWAS to embrace the bloc's opportunity for dialogue which he described as the ''best way to resolve issues.''
This is a view echoed by Ambassador Adamu Ibrahim Lamuwa, Permanent Secretary at the Nigerian ministry of foreign affairs, who was also at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
''These problems are not peculiar to West Africa,'' Ambassador Lamuwa told TRT Afrika.
''Dialogue and telling each other the truth is crucial. No problem will defy solution if there are talks, diplomacy and mutual understanding,'' he added.
According to the ECOWAS' top official Touray, working together will help the 15 countries in West Africa to tackle their common problems including economic crisis and insecurity particularly in the Sahel region.
Various armed groups including Daesh and Boko Haram continue to unleash deadly violence in several countries like Nigeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso resulting thousands of deaths and mass displacements.
''Insecurity is our main concern in West Africa,'' he said.
''Terrorism is a driver of insecurity, unconstitutional change of government is a driver of insecurity, organised crime and climate - these are all drivers of insecurity,'' he explained.
ECOWAS looks inward
ECOWAS is reviewing its security strategy to enable it proffer domestic solutions to the security problems, Touray said.
As part of its plan of action, ECOWAS wants its members to give it more power to use armed forces to tackle insecurity in the region as well as to finance its security operations internally.
However, this does not mean the regional body will not need support from external partners, the official said.
''We want to make sure that our peace and security is financed first by ourselves before we rely on others,'' Omar Touray said.
As the impact of climate change continues to exacerbate insecurity and economic hardship, ECOWAS urges world top polluters to do more in climate action financing. According to Touray, ''climate justice'' has not been done yet as the problems persist.
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