🇳🇬🇲🇱🇧🇫🇳🇪ECOWAS lifts sanctions on junta-led Niger and Guinea
The West African regional bloc said on Saturday it would lift strict sanctions on Niger and Guinea.
After closed-door talks, ECOWAS said it had decided to lift Niger sanctions including border closures, the freezing of central bank and state assets, and the suspension of commercial transactions with immediate effect.
It said this was done for humanitarian reasons, but the move will be seen as a gesture of appeasement as ECOWAS tries to persuade the three junta states to remain in the alliance.
🇸🇱🇳🇬ECOWAS and Nigeria are ready “to deploy elements” in Sierra Leone “if need be”
A delegation from the ECOWAS Commission and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, traveled to visit the Sierra Leone's president.
The head of the Ecowas Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, conveyed to President Julius Maada Bio the message of the chair of the 15-regional bloc Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
"ECOWAS is ready and committed to supporting the people of Sierra Leone, including to strengthen their national security and the deployment, if need be, of regional elements," Touray said.
The national security advisor to the Ecowas' chair hailed the leadership of Bio and his government in stopping what he called a "very unfortunate incident."
🌍🇳🇬🇩🇪ECOWAS chief, German chancellor meet in Abuja
German chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Omar Touray, the head of West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS in Abuja on Sunday.
Germany's leader who is on a state visit to Nigeria expressed concerns about a spate of army takeovers in West Africa.
The two leaders also discussed strengthening economic ties between Berlin and ECOWAS.
"Regarding exports of Africa to Germany we've discussed about the need to boost production on the continent," said Omar Alieu Touray.
"We have helped the development of the electricity grid in all ECOWAS countries and try our best. This is especially the case here in Nigeria but also in other countries and this is our willingness to use the capacity, the technological strength of our business sector to help the development of these countries," Scholz told.