West African government ministers have proposed re-opening borders between their countries in the first half of July and allowing in travellers from other countries with low or controlled levels of COVID-19 spread by the end of July.
Countries across the 15-country ECOWAS trade bloc have imposed varying levels of travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many shutting their borders entirely.
A second phase, involving the opening of land, air and maritime borders within the region, should happen by July 15 at the latest.
A third phase, involving the opening of air and land borders to "countries with low and controlled levels of COVID-19 contamination rates", should occur by July 31 but will depend on the evolution of the pandemic, the report said.
African countries have registered relatively few cases compared to hotspots elsewhere in the world, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned last week that the pandemic was accelerating on the continent.
