After more than four years of regional and continental marginalisation, Guinea has fully reclaimed its place within Ecowas and the African Union, thanks to a transition deemed successful and a presidential election praised by international observers.
The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has decided to lift, with immediate effect, all remaining sanctions imposed on the country and to fully reintegrate it into all of the organisation’s decision-making bodies and regional integration mechanisms.
This marks the culmination of the political transition process initiated after the September 2021 coup.
The decision was adopted at the conclusion of the Ecowas Conference of Heads of State and Government, meeting in Abuja, which welcomed the restoration of constitutional order in Guinea following the constitutional referendum of September 21, 2025, the peaceful presidential election of December 28, 2025, and the inauguration of President Mamadi Doumbouya on January 17, 2026.
Elected in the first round of the presidential election on December 28, 2025, Doumbouya secured a landslide with 86.72% of the vote.
Valid votes were cast, according to the results proclaimed on December 30 by the Director General of Elections (DGE), Djenabou Toure, and confirmed by the Supreme Court.
The GMD candidate obtained 4,594,262 votes out of 5,297,931 cast, in an election marked by a high turnout of 80.95%, far surpassing his main competitors.
The Conference of Heads of State and Government took note of the positive assessments made by the Ecowas, African Union (AU), and other independent observation missions before deciding to lift all remaining sanctions and fully reintegrate Guinea into community institutions. It also encouraged the Guinean authorities to intensify inclusive national dialogue, particularly in view of the upcoming legislative elections, in order to strengthen social cohesion and political consensus.
Ecowas’s decisions come in the wake of the lifting of Guinea’s suspension by the African Union.
The AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), at its 1325th meeting, deemed the Guinean transition “very fruitful” and authorised the immediate resumption of Conakry’s participation in all activities of the continental body, in accordance with Article 26 of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
AC/fss/as/APA