Mali assumes the presidency of the Confederation of Sahel States for one year

Hibapress

Mali will assume the presidency of the Confederation of Sahel States, which also includes Burkina Faso and Niger, for a period of one year, according to the so-called Niamey Declaration, published at the end of a tripartite summit held on Saturday in the Nigerien capital.

The Heads of State of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) unanimously decided to create the Confederation of Sahel States, the declaration said, adding that they committed, among other things, to “providing this Confederation with its own instruments for financing its economic and social policy.”

The leaders of Burkina, Mali and Niger also decided to “put in place mechanisms to facilitate the free movement of goods, people and services within the AES area.”

The three AES countries announced in January their departure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), an organisation which they consider to be “instrumentalised” by France.

“Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” said Niger’s transitional leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, at the opening of the summit.

General Tiani stated before his Burkinabe counterparts, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, and Malian counterpart, Colonel Assimi Goïta, that the people of their three countries had “irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS”.