"Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States)," said General Abdourahamane Tiani.
The military regimes of
Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa
Saturday, with Niger’s ruling general saying the junta-led countries have
“turned their backs on” the regional bloc.
The three country’s
leaders are taking part in the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States
(AES), set up after pulling out of 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
Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering’s opening in the
Nigerien capital Niamey.
Mali, Burkina Faso and
Niger set up the mutual defence pact in September, leaving the wider Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc in January.
Their ECOWAS exit was
fuelled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating the bloc, and
not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.
“The AES is the only
effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism,” Tiani declared
on Saturday, calling ECOWAS “conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this
fight”.
The exit came as the trio
shifted away from former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new
bloc to become a “community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign
powers”.
All three have expelled
anti-jihadist French troops and turned instead towards what they call their
“sincere partners” — Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
Given the deadly jihadist
violence the three countries face, “the fight against terrorism” and the
“consolidation of cooperation” will be on Saturday’s agenda, according to the
Burkinabe presidency.
ECOWAS is due to hold a
summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Sunday, where the
issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda.
– Saturday’s summit –
After several bilateral
meetings, the three Sahelian strongmen are gathering for the first time since
coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.
In mid-May, the foreign
ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger agreed in Niamey on a draft text
creating the confederation, which the heads of state are expected to adopt at
Saturday’s summit.
Niger’s General
Abdourahamane Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in
the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived
Saturday.
“Don’t expect many
announcements, this is primarily a political event,” said Gilles Yabi, founder
of the West African think tank Wathi.
“The aim is to show that
this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their
solidarity.”
In early March, AES
announced joint anti-jihadist efforts, though they did not specify details.
Insurgents have carried
out attacks for years in the vast “three borders” region between Niger, Mali
and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihadist forces.
The trio have made
sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common
currency.
– ‘Path of no return’ –
Sunday’s summit comes as
several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to
resume dialogue between the two camps.
Notably, Senegal’s new
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between
ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.
In June, his newly
re-elected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani,
called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of
jihadism.
But successive summits on
the same weekend raises fears of a stiffening of positions between AES and
ECOWAS.
“I do not see the AES
countries seeking to return to ECOWAS. I think it’s ECOWAS will have to tone it
down (the situation),” Nigerien lawyer Djibril Abarchi told AFP.
While AES is currently an
economic and defence cooperation body, its three member countries have
repeatedly expressed their desire to go further.
At the end of June,
Colonel Goita assured that cooperation within the AES had taken “a path of no
return” during a visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina’s capital.
The potential creation of
a new common currency would also mean leaving behind the CFA franc they
currently share with neighbouring countries.
“Leaving a currency zone
is not easy,” warned Yabi. “Any country can change its currency, but it takes a
lot of time and requires a clear political choice as well as a technical and
financial preparation process.”
Issoufou Kado, a Nigerien
financial expert and political analyst, agreed: “They have to be very careful,
because the mechanism takes time.