Own Africavision Song Contest 10: Confirmations

 ACCRA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - West African nations will close their borders with Mali, sever diplomatic ties and impose tough economic sanctions in response to its "unacceptable" delay in holding elections following a 2020 military coup, the 15-state regional bloc said on Sunday. 

The fresh measures from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) represent a significant hardening of its stance towards Mali, whose interim authorities have proposed holding elections in December 2025 instead of this February as originally agreed with the bloc.

This schedule "simply means that an illegitimate military transition government will take the Malian people hostage", ECOWAS added.

The organisation said it had agreed to impose additional sanctions with immediate effect. These included the closure of members' land and air borders with Mali, the suspension of non-essential financial transactions, the freezing of Malian state assets in ECOWAS commercial banks and recalling their ambassadors from Bamako.

Meanwhile, regional monetary union UEMOA instructed all financial institutions under its umbrella to suspend Mali with immediate effect, severing the country's access to regional financial markets. Mali's political upheaval has also deepened tensions with former colonial power France, which has thousands of soldiers deployed across West Africa's Sahel region to battle Islamist insurgents.

Basically, we are not allowed to leave the country! Let's show Own Africavision what we're made of!