“Ecowas wanted to strike hard with its sanctions. However, it is not in the interest of any state in the community for this situation to continue. The interdependence between Mali and the other countries in the zone means that closing land and sea borders – except for basic necessities – has a knock-on effect on neighbouring countries,” a senior bank executive in Mali told us, following the 9 January announcement that the West African heads of state had imposed several punitive measures against the Bamako regime.
“Mali is a landlocked country that has a maritime outlet to other countries. More than 50% of the port of Dakar depends on products that must go to Mali. Closing borders will therefore impact Dakar. The same applies to Côte d’Ivoire, which depends on Malian livestock. If the situation persists, the price of a kilo of meat in Côte d’Ivoire is likely to rise,” adds our
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