ECOWAS warns Mali’s progress towards February polls insufficient

Regional bloc says it feared potential delays in vote aimed at restoring civilian rule following last year’s coup.

West Africa’s main regional bloc says it is concerned Mali’s transitional government has not made sufficient progress towards organising elections early next year, as agreed after a military coup last year. In a statement, the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said on Tuesday that it remained “worried by the lack of concrete action” to prepare for the vote, which has been promised for February 2022 by coup leader and current interim President Colonel Assimi Goita. The announcement came at the end of a three-day mission to Mali led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.