After the exit from ECOWAS Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger endorsed the formation of a confederation

By Brian M’Bowe-

Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger)
Photo Credit: globalr2p.org

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Denver Colorado USA- In 2023 of September, the three military Administrations founded the Alliance of Sahel States a defensive and economic agreement.

Burkina Faso’s Defense Minister – General Kassoum Coulibaly, asserted that, the negotiations in Ouagadougou were reliefs to forward the implementation of “instruments, mechanisms, and procedures” as well as the “legal architecture for the confederation”.

General Salifou Modi, from Niger confirmed the procedures will “allow our alliance and the confederation to function efficiently and to the great joy” of the three nations’ inhabitants.

During a summit in December 2023 in the Malian capital – Bamako, the three nations foreign ministers enhanced the formation of a confederation as part of a long-term goal of unifying their West African neighbors inside a federation.

General Abdourahamane Tiani – Niger’s military leader, noted on that, establishing a common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali could be a “way out” of “colonization.”

The meeting involves only weeks after Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger disclosed their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). All three were founding members of the regional union in 1975 but had been suspended due to military coups that deposed elected civilian Administration.

Since 2020, the three nations have faced continuous terrorist bloodshed, as well as military coups. Their newest military chiefs have same blamed erstwhile colonial power – France of exploiting ECOWAS.

They have expelled French Ambassadors and forces while centralizing attention politically and militarily toward Moscow.

Mali’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization – Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, noted that the ECOWAS withdrawal paves ways for genuine brotherhood without outside intervention or manipulation.

Coulibaly re-affirmed that, ECOWAS “has turned away from its main objective of serving the people”.

“Our decision to withdraw is irreversible,” he noted.

For New Africa Business News Brian M’Bowe Reports, International Investigation Correspondent