Highlights of the first summit of the member countries of the AES confederation (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) whose heads of state met on Saturday July 6th at the Mahatma Gandhi international conference center in Niamey.. These four documents committing their States were signed this Saturday , July 6th during the first summit of the three heads of state: Colonel Assimi Goita(Mali), Captain Ibrahim Traoré (Burkina Faso) and General Abdourahamane Tiani (Niger) gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi international conference center in Niamey.
The Niamey summit gave pride of place to the free movement of people and property within the confederation which takes note of the “irrevocable” withdrawal of ECOWAS ( Economic community of west African states), as expressed by general Tiani in his speech on the occasion:
” This popular impetus is the best guarantee for building a confederation of peoples, not a bureaucratic edifice. Our peoples have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS.”
In this regard, heads of state recalled Ecowas “heavy responsibility” for the erosion of the values of fraternity, solidarity and cooperation between the states and people concerned, underlining the damaging impact of the crisis.
“ illegal, illegitimate and inhumane sanctions and threats of aggression against a sovereign state.”
Free circulation
With regard to the free movement of people and property, heads of State instructed the relevant ministers to draw up “as a matter of emergency” draft additional protocols to deal with the implications of the withdrawal of AES member states from Ecowas. Above all, the confederation of the alliance of Sahel States took important decisions to strengthen economic and financial cooperation among its members deciding to set up an investment bank and a stabilization fund.
”To this end, they instructed the ministers of Foreign Affairs and those in charge of Development to take the necessary steps to make them operational”, states the final press release. On November 25th, 2023 ministers of Economy and Finance of the three countries had already recommended the creation of a stabilization fund and an AES investment bank, as well as the establishment of a committee charged with deepening reflections on economic and monetary union issues. Recommendations were made for the implementation of structuring projects in the fields of energy, infrastructure, transport and food security.
Economic sovereignty
“Three countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are members of the Alliance of Sahel States, an interstate military alliance for mutual and collective defense signed on September 16th, 2023 and will be moving from military and territorial sovereignty to the economic, financial and monetary aspects of their sovereignty”, explains Yves Ekoué Amaïzo, a togolese economist specializing in strategies, in January 18th, 2024 edition of Africa Connect. For the expert there can be no sovereignty without military, territorial, customs, fiscal, economic, monetary and financial sovereignty.
