Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have recently concluded arrangements to establish a novel confederation, known as the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States, signifying a significant geopolitical transformation in the area.
This action indicated their divergence from their previous colonial hegemon, France, and a shift towards forging closer ties with Russia.
As per the report by AFP, the proclamation was declared subsequent to a gathering of the foreign ministers of the three nations in Niamey, the capital of Niger, on Friday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger, Bakary Sangare, authenticated the completion of the preliminary document delineating the institutionalization and implementation of the AES.
“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States,” Sangare said.
“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States has been born,” declared Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.
The chief executives of the three nations are anticipated to officially endorse the document at an imminent summit, although the precise date remains unspecified.
A crucial participant in the pivotal negotiations was Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), widely recognized as the principal political and regional authority in West Africa, comprised of 15 nations and established in 1975 to foster economic convergence among member countries, has encountered difficulties in recent times in combating a series of military seizures in the area, including Mali in 2020 and 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Niger in the previous year.
Regrettably, the three nations, deliberating a rival entity, the Alliance of Sahel States, in opposition to the regional coalition following the toppling of the democratically elected regime in Niger, declared their withdrawal from ECOWAS on Sunday, January 28, 2024.
The trio of nations, presently governed by military authorities, affirmed in a collective declaration that they renounced their membership in ECOWAS due to the organization purportedly deviating from the principles of its founding fathers and pan-Africanism.
Nonetheless, the restrictions were lifted in February 2024 after the intervention of Nigeria’s former military head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
Omar Touray, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, emphasized that the resolutions were made in the pursuit of cohesion and safety in the African sub-region.
