Mali Intends To Protect Trade Embargo by ECOWAS

Last updated on January 18th, 2022 at 08:28 am

Mali has been sanctioned by ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union. According to the transitional PM Choguel Maïga, Mali will not take this insult sleeping and will look into lodging a formal complaint against such economic sanctions. According to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), there is no room for those that disturb the law and order in their own country.

A trade embargo stands in place, with borders of various African nations sealing access to Mali. Russian mercenaries continue to function in Mali disturbing its fragile peace. It is for sure that gold mining companies will be hit adversely by the ECOWAS-Mali standoff.

Related Posts

• ECOWAS Hits Mali With Severe Sanctions Over The Delay Of Elections
• ECOWAS is “determined” to ensure military coups are a failure
• Former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keta of Mali has died in Bamako
• Former President Keita’s funeral was held in Mali
• Inconsistency in African policy for Covid-19 impact trade in the region
• Leaders from Mali joined tens of thousands of people in an anti-sanctions rally
• Leaders from Mali joined tens of thousands of people in an anti-sanctions rally
• Mali: UNSC Warns Of ‘Endless Cycle Of Instability’
• Nigerian President approves election law to improve transparency during the election
• Protesters in Tunisia mark 2011 uprising amid Covid-19 restrictions
• Russian Troops settled in Mali after the withdrawal of French troops
• South Africa develops a copy of the Moderna vaccine (Covid-19)
• The death of a 5-year-old boy trapped in a well in Morocco

ECOWAS suspended Mali from the economic community in response to the second coup and targeted members of the transitional government with travel bans and asset freezes. It does not wish to support a country that is finding it tough to protect its own democracy. Relations have deteriorated even further this month after the military junta proposed elections should instead take place by the close of 2025, a timeline Ecowas said was “totally unacceptable”.

After an extraordinary meeting in Ghana a little over a week ago, Ecowas immediately closed land and air borders with Mali; suspended non-essential financial transactions barring those needed for vital products, such as food or medical supplies; and froze Malian state assets held in Ecowas central and commercial banks. The embargo means there is shut off on essential supplies such as medicines, including Covid-19 vaccines, as well as food and possibly fuel, that will be blocked from entering the country. To add more injury to the insult, the central bank has closed off any foreign transactions, so the country will very quickly run out of cash and will not be able to pay for non-essential imports. Mali has also essentially been frozen out of its own assets, its own banking sector. Last week, West Africa’s central bank blocked Mali’s attempt to raise around US$52mn in treasury bills.