© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) flag is visualized in Accra, Ghana March 25,2022 REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko/File Photo
By Felix Onuah
ABUJA (Reuters) – The West African local bloc stated on Saturday it would lift stringent sanctions on Niger as it looksfor a brand-new method to discourage 3 junta-led states from withdrawing from the political and financial union – a relocation that threatens local combination.
Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) fulfilled to address a political crisis in the coup-hit area that deepened in January with military-ruled Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali’s choice to exit the 15-member bloc.
After closed-door talks, ECOWAS stated it had chose to lift Niger sanctions consistingof border closures, the freezing of main bank and state properties, and the suspension of industrial deals with instant impact.
In a communique it stated this was done for humanitarian factors, however the relocation will be seen as a gesture of appeasement as ECOWAS attempts to convince the 3 junta states to stay in the almost 50-year-old alliance. Their prepared exit would bring a unpleasant disentanglement from the bloc’s trade and services streams, worth almost $150 billion a year.
The bloc “further prompts the nations to reevaluate the choice in view of the advantages that the ECOWAS m