Junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have finalised plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia.
Their foreign ministers met Friday in Niger’s capital Niamey to agree on a text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Niger Foreign Minister, Bakary Yaou Sangare, said the objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation, as the text would be adopted by the heads of state of the three countries at a summit, without specifying the date.
On his part, the Malian Foreign Minister, Abdoulaye Diop after meeting the head of Nigerien military regime, General Abdourahamane Tiani, said, 'We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has been born'.
The third foreign minister at the meeting was Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore.
The Sahel region has been subject to deadly jihadist violence for years, which they accused France of not being able to curb.
The three countries said late January they were quitting The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping.
In a joint statement – that was read out on state broadcasters in the three countries – they said ECOWAS had “drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Pan-Africanism.”
It goes on to say that ECOWAS “under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to member states and peoples,” adding that the bloc had failed to help them tackle the jihadist violence in their countries.
Relations between the bloc and the three countries were tense after military coups took place in Niger in July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.
As part of efforts to bring them back to the regional bloc, ECOWAS has since lifted almost all the sanctions imposed on the three countries.
Meanwhile, ECOWAS Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said during a programme tagged: “Reducing vulnerabilities through partnerships – a stakeholders’ engagement on regional defence and security perspectives” organised by the European Union in conjunction with the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Abuja, that ECOWAS wants the three countries back.
While highlighting other small groups within ECOWAS, he said the trio could form their new group but should remain in ECOWAS, describing the region as a big community.