Presidents of West Africa’s regional bloc agreed Sunday to lift economic and financial sanctions on Mali after the nation’s military leaders agreed to a return to democracy by 2024.
The Economic Community of West African States, or Ecowas, also said Burkina Faso has decided on a 24-month transition to civilian rule. The bloc urged Guinea to submit a timeline for a transition to democracy by the end of July, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, president of the Ecowas Commission, told reporters in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Mali’s presidential election should be held in March 2024 and Ecowas “demands the non-participation of the transitional authorities,” in the vote, a statement said. The country’s ruling junta had passed legislation that paved the way for its interim authorities to run in the next presidential vote.
