Photo : AFP
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : AFP
IN BRIEF
By Ayan Datta
Niger: Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso leave ECOWAS, form Alliance of Sahel States (AES)
On 6 July, Reuters reported that Mali’s Interim President Assimi Goita, Niger’s President General Abdourahamane Tiani and Burkina’s Faso’s President Captain Ibrahim Traore withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) Confederation. Tiani stated, “It is up to us today to make the AES Confederation an alternative to any artificial regional group by building ... a community free from the control of foreign powers." The leaders released a joint communique agreeing to coordinate diplomatically and establish an AES investment bank and projects in mining, energy and agriculture. (“Junta-led Sahel states rule out return to West African economic bloc,” Reuters, 6 July 2024)