Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Finance says it has ordered the suspension of all economic and financial relations with Mali. In a statement, the ministry said the decision applies to all Ivorian banks and financial institutions.
The move is in line with a decision by West Africa’s regional bloc to halt financial flows over a military mutiny against Mali’s president.
The members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to close all land and air borders with Mali after President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta announced his resignation following a military mutiny.
Delegation to Mali
ECOWAS said in a statement that it will also halt trade relations with Mali.
Underscoring the call for sanctions against those who attempted the coup and their partners, it said a high-level delegation will be sent to the country to establish constitutional order.
It added that the coup attempt would have a negative impact on efforts to promote peace and stability in the country and the West Africa sub-region.
Strong condemnation
ECOWAS has condemned the toppling of the government and rejected those behind the attempted coup, describing their rise to power illegitimate.
It also called on all stakeholders to resort to dialogue to resolve the crisis in good faith and mutual trust with a view to sustaining peace and security.
Early on Wednesday, Mali’s president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, announced his resignation and the dissolution of Parliament after he was arrested by mutinying soldiers.
President Keïta won a second term in 2018 but there is widespread anger about corruption, economic mismanagement and worsening security, with jihadist and communal violence on the increase.
Mali, with a production of roughly 20 million people, has been bedevilled by a conflict that started in 2010 and has since spilled over into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
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