Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger declare their unity in a “confederation” and establish a break with ECOWAS

The summit brought together for the first time the leaders of the Sahel Alliance, an organization established in September 2023 that includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The three countries said in a closing statement that the alliance had become a confederation of regarding 72 million people on Saturday in order to “take an additional step towards deeper integration among member states.”

In January, the three countries left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had imposed economic sanctions on Niger for several months, accusing the organization of being a tool of Paris and of not providing it with sufficient support in the fight once morest extremist militants.

At the start of the summit yesterday, Saturday, the head of the ruling military council in Niger, Abdourahmane Cheyani, confirmed to his counterparts in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, and in Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, that the peoples of their three countries “have turned their backs once and for all on the Economic Community of West African States.”

Chiani called for making the alliance “an alternative to any artificial regional grouping by building a sovereign community of peoples, a community far removed from the domination of foreign powers.”

Relations between the bloc and the three aforementioned countries deteriorated significantly following the July 26, 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power in Niger.

Subsequently, the Economic Community of West African States imposed economic sanctions on Niger, threatening to intervene militarily to restore ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Source: AFP