At ECOWAS summit, West African leaders set terms for lifting Niger sanctions

At a recent summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), regional leaders decided to keep sanctions imposed on Niger after a July military coup and said they would need to see progress towards a transition to civilian rule before easing the measures.
The West African leaders met Sunday (10 December) for a summit with the region in crisis after consecutive coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020 and two attempted coups elsewhere in recent weeks. They demanded a “short” transitional period leading toward civilian rule in coup-hit Niger before the regional bloc would lift economic sanctions on the country. The ECOWAS has essentially recognized Niger’s military junta in power, as it has set up a commission made up of leaders from Benin, Togo and Sierra Leone to negotiate with Niger’s CNSP military leadership on a transition to democratic rule. The recognition of the junta appears to diminish the chances that Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum may be reinstated.
“Based on the outcomes of the engagement by the committee of heads of state with the CNSP, the authority will progressively ease the sanctions imposed on Niger,” ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray said at the closing of the summit. “Failure by the CNSP to comply with the outcomes of engagement with the committee, ECOWAS shall maintain all sanctions.” Nigeria has recently asked the Niger regime to free deposed former President Bazoum and allow him to fly to a third country, as a step to opening talks on lifting sanctions. But Niger’s military leaders rejected that option and have asked Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe to act as a mediator. Niger’s military leaders had previously said it would take three years to return to civilian rule.