In an effort to bring their neighbours in West Africa together under a federation, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger suggested on Friday, December 1st, the formation of a confederation.
For two days, the Alliance of Sahel States’ top diplomats convened in Bamako.
The ministers stressed the value of development, defense, and diplomacy in their talks to “consolidate political and economic integration” and to further explain the inner workings of the new alliance.
The suggestions will be presented to each head of state, who is scheduled to meet in Bamako on an undisclosed date, according to Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.
A commission to explore an economic and monetary union, an investment bank, and a stabilization fund should be established, according to the recommendations of the nations’ finance and economy ministers who convened in late November.
The heads of state of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger’s armed forces inked an agreement to mutual defence in mid-September.
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) was founded by the Liptako-Gourma Charter, which has the name of the historical territory of the same name.
