ECOWAS: the organization lifts “with immediate effect” part of Niger’s sanctions

ECOWAS has lifted economic, trade and travel sanctions imposed on Niger, which were aimed at overturning the country's coup last year.

Sanctions will be lifted with immediate effect, declared this Saturday, February 24, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, following the organization's meeting in the Nigerian capital in Abuja. The summit aimed to address the existential threats facing the region and implore three junta-led countries that left the organization to reverse their decision.

The lifting of sanctions against Niger is “ purely humanitarian ” and aims to alleviate the suffering caused by this situation, Mr. Touray told the press. However, “ targeted sanctions as well as political sanctions remain in force ,” he added.

The decisions taken at this meeting aim to defend democratic principles and promote the social and economic well-being of citizens,” said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, current chairman of ECOWAS, at the opening of the summit. To do this, the organization must " reexamine its current approach to the search for constitutional order in member states ." Mr. Tinubu also invites the Sahel states " to reconsider their decision and not to perceive our organization as an enemy ".

This week, Yakubu Gowon , one of the founding fathers of ECOWAS , urged regional leaders to lift sanctions, stressing that the organization is " more than a state coalition ."

Sanctions against Niger and the threat of military intervention to overthrow the coup were "the likely triggers of an inevitable outcome" of the three countries' withdrawal from ECOWAS, explains Karim Manuel, analyst for the Middle East. East and Africa at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

With their withdrawal, " the West African region will be increasingly fragmented and divided and the new alliance between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger fragments the West African bloc and reflects an axis of opposition to the traditional structures that have sustained the region for decades ,” added the analyst.

Ivory Coast: presidential pardon for General Bruno Dogbo Ble and 50 other prisoners

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara granted a presidential pardon this Thursday, February 22, to 51 civilians and soldiers close to former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Prime Minister Guillaume Soro.

The 51 prisoners were sentenced for offenses committed during the post-electoral crises and for endangering state security.

Among those pardoned is General Dogbo Ble Brunot , sentenced in April 2017 to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the "disappeared from Novotel" affair, the murder of four people including two French people in April 2011.

The head of state granted the presidential pardon " in accordance with his commitment to work resolutely to consolidate peace " in Cote d'Ivoire. Indeed, on February 13, at the presidential palace, Alassane Ouattara announced upcoming measures intended to strengthen national cohesion.

The release of these prisoners had been demanded for several years by Laurent Gbagbo, himself pardoned in August 2022.

In a press release, the African Peoples' Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PPA-CI) "welcomes this decision" while evoking " a taste of unfinished business " for " those who still remain imprisoned ".