Tension is mounting between ECOWAS and the transitional government in Mali. Meeting in Accra on Sunday, the Heads of State and Government of the sub-regional organization were heavy handed towards Mali. Heavy sanctions ranging from the closure of air and land borders to the freezing of the country's assets in central and regional banks and the suspension of all commercial transactions between ECOWAS countries and Mali. These sanctions obviously did not move the authorities in Bamako who also retaliated.

It all started with a new timetable transmitted by the Malian authorities to the Presidency of the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government on December 31, 2021, following the National Refoundation Conference (ANR) held in the country on December 13, 2021. This provides for presidential elections to be held by the end of December 2026. This timing was deemed "totally unacceptable" by ECOWAS leaders who said: "This timetable simply means that an illegitimate military transitional government will hold the Malian people hostage for the next five years.

As a result, they decided to increase the sanctions already imposed on Mali on December 12. The new economic and financial sanctions include the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Mali; suspension of all trade transactions between ECOWAS countries and

Mali, with the exception of the following products: essential consumer goods; pharmaceutical products; medical supplies and equipment, including equipment for the control of COVID-19; petroleum products and electricity; the freezing of the assets of the Republic of Mali in the Central and Commercial Banks of ECOWAS and the suspension of Mali from all financial aid from ECOWAS financial institutions (EBID and BOAD).

In Bamako, it did not take long to respond to the ECOWAS leaders. In a statement read by the Executive spokesman for the occasion, Mali is neither impressed nor intimidated by ECOWAS sanctions, which it considers manipulated by "extra-regional powers".

On the basis of reciprocity, Mali informs that it closes its borders with the member countries of the sub-regional body, reserves the right to reconsider its membership in the said entity and recalls its ambassadors accredited to the States concerned.

The standoff between the Malian authorities and ECOWAS is likely, according to many observers, to have negative consequences for the Malian economy. Economic circles fear heavy repercussions on the daily lives of the population.

For the detractors of the junta in power in Bamako, its leaders should be the only ones to suffer sanctions, since they are the ones who have not respected the timetable established by ECOWAS. "Mali cannot survive in economic and political autarky," said a member of Malian civil society.

RT

photo credit: mH

Voir la traduction