Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit on Mali and Guinea: speaking with one voice

Ghanaian Head of State Nana Akufo-Addo, current President of ECOWAS, here at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2021. AFP - JOHN ANGELILLO

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2 min

An extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) opened this Sunday, November 7, in Accra, Ghana.

On the agenda, the political situation in Guinea and Mali, two countries ruled by military juntas, following a coup.

Several West African leaders responded to their Ghanaian counterpart and current president of ECOWAS, Nana Akufo-Addo, and negotiations began, even before their meeting began.

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With our special correspondent in Accra,

Even before the heads of state's closed session, which started at midday, there were negotiations to probably get things done, to coordinate.

There are, for example, the Ivorian, Senegalese and Nigerian presidents who discussed the situation in Guinea and Mali.

And not far from them, there was the President of Guinea-Bissau.

On Mali and Guinea, two countries today - allow the expression - "pebbles in the shoe of the ECOWAS", the idea that emerges from here is to speak with one voice.

Guinea and Mali have special envoys, here at the top, but at the ministerial level.

These envoys try to convince but "it is not won in advance," told us a member of a delegation participating in the summit.

The president of Ghana - current president of ECOWAS - said in his brief opening speech of the meeting, before the closed session, that the situation in these two countries is worrying.

"

In the corridors of the meeting, it is clear that we cannot give the impression of letting the political transitions in Mali and Guinea drag on forever.

“ 

 ” we remind people here. 

Two reports will be decisive for the rest of the meeting.

There is a report to be made on the situation in Mali, by the former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, crisis mediator for Mali.

Then, the heads of state behind closed doors will listen to a memorandum from the president of the ECOWAS commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, on Guinea, because he went to Conakry.

And it is after these two reports that the heads of state will take the decisions they will, probably, want to announce publicly. 

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• Ghana

• ECOWAS

• Mali

• Guinea