Coup-hit nations of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso form Sahel Alliance
- In Reports
- 11:07 AM, Jul 08, 2024
- Myind Staff
On Saturday, military junta leaders from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced their decision not to reintegrate their nations into the West Africa regional bloc. This move could complicate efforts to reverse coups and mitigate the escalating violence spreading across the region.
The remarks were made during the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), established by coup-affected Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso after their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year.
“Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” Niger’s ruling general Abdourahamane Tchiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen, who all came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023, at the gathering’s opening in the Nigerien capital Niamey.
The nearly 50-year-old ECOWAS has become “a threat to our states,” added Niger’s military leader.
“We are going to create an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa,” he said
The meeting of the three neighbouring countries occurred a day before an ECOWAS summit held in Nigeria by other regional heads of state. Analysts noted that these two meetings underscore the significant division within ECOWAS, which had previously been the primary political authority for its 15 member states before the unprecedented withdrawal of the three countries from its membership.
Military leaders in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have actively resisted Paris's influence by expelling French anti-jihadist troops and shifting their focus to what they term "sincere partners" such as Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
Additionally, the leaders of these three countries have criticised ECOWAS for what they perceive as inadequate efforts in combating jihadist violence, a persistent issue in the Sahel region.
“The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism,” Tchiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS “conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight”.
During the meeting in Niamey, Burkina Faso's leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, reiterated these concerns and accused foreign countries of exploiting Africa.
“Westerners consider that we belong to them and our wealth also belongs to them. They think that they are the ones who must continue to tell us what is good for our states. This era is gone forever; our resources will remain for us and our populations,” Traoré said.
“The attack on one of us will be an attack on all the other members,” said Mali’s leader, Col. Assimi Goïta.
With Goïta elected as the new alliance's leader, the three leaders signed a pact committing their countries to establish a regional parliament and a bank similar to those operated by ECOWAS. They also pledged to pool their military resources to combat insecurity in their countries.
Relations between the three countries—Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso—and ECOWAS deteriorated significantly following the July 2023 coup d’état that installed Tchiani as the leader in Niger. ECOWAS responded by imposing severe economic sanctions on Niger and threatening military intervention to reinstate the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum.
Although the sanctions were lifted in February, tensions persist between the two sides.
Image source: AFP
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