ECOWAS Lifts Sanction Placed On Mali, Elects New Chairperson

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lifted the economic and financial sanctions placed on Mali following a decision by the Malian authority to approve a plan to hold presidential elections in February 2024.

ECOWAS imposed the sanctions on the west African country after it underwent separate coups in August 2020 and May 2021.

The decision to lift the sanctions was announced by President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou in a press engagement after hours of closed-door engagement by ECOWAS leaders in an ordinary session in Accra on Sunday.

Jean-Claude Kassi Brou – Ecowas Commission President – said the head of states reached an agreement with Bamako, which had promised a return to democratic rule.

During the summit, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, president of Guinea-Bissau, was elected as new chairman of the bloc.

Meanwhile the former ECOWAS Chair, Nana Akufo-Addo has called on member states to continue to implement the region’s action plan against terrorism.