A New Alliance Of West African States

Mirror Image WEST AFRICA Earlier this month, a triumvirate of military leaders who oversee military juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger signed a pact to establish the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a new confederation that they said would combat jihadism and foster prosperity in Western Africa. “We have the same blood that runs in our veins,” said Burkina Faso’s leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, at the ceremony in Niger’s capital Niamey, according to France24. “In our veins runs the blood of those valiant warriors who fought and won for us this land that we call Mali, Burkina, and Niger.” Traoré, who came to power in 2022 in a coup, recently extended his term in power for another five years, and linked the new confederation to his version of the region’s heroic legacy. “In our veins runs the blood of those valiant warriors who helped the whole world rid itself of Nazism and many other scourges,” he said. “In our veins runs the blood of those valiant warriors that were deported from Africa to Europe, America, Asia … and who helped to build those countries as slaves.” Afolabi Adekaiyaoja was skeptical. The research analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development, a Nigerian think tank, argued in World Politics Review that the AES in the long run would spell more trouble for the region. That’s because the three leaders are banding together to counter the powerful Economic Organization of West African States (ECOWAS), whose leaders have contemplated intervening in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger because they all came to power in coups, Adekaiyaoja said. Now, in declaring themselves separate, they have divided the region. ECOWAS member Benin, for example, slapped sanctions on Nigerien oil exports in 2023 to force the coup leaders in that country to allow ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to return to office. Niger refused. Now, as Africanews reported, Niger might lose out on massive revenues from an oil pipeline that has been built with Chinese investments, unless they can reroute their pipeline through less stable neighbors like Chad. Niger has also kicked out American and French troops previously based in the countries to combat Islamic militant groups that have rampaged across borders, fomenting violence, kidnapping or murdering locals, and developing corrupt moneymaking operations, noted the BBC. Russian military support has often replaced the exiting Western forces. These groups, affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged a grinding insurgency since 2015 that has killed thousands and displaced millions in the region. The AES has struggled to maintain security in this environment so far. Armed thugs killed at least 26 people recently in Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, the Associated Press reported. An Al Qaeda-linked terror group was suspected of orchestrating the attack. Meanwhile, fighters in these conflicts have traveled farther afield in the region, to fight in Sudan’s civil war, for example, exporting instability, added University of Washington PhD candidate Yasir Zaidan in the Conversation. The AES has a lot of work to do to instill confidence. But as Virginie Baudais, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s Sahel and West Africa Program told France24, they could hardly do worse than what was in place before. She said that the three states’ decision to create its own bloc was driven in part by more than a decade of failure by Western-backed regimes in the Sahel to hold back the tide of insurgent jihadist movements. “It’s a response to the loss of credibility of the European states and of ECOWAS in the region in the fight against terrorism,” she said. “The three leaders all claim that they are achieving good results in the fight against terrorism thanks to their established military cooperation. Clearly, each country cannot fight against these groups … the only option is cooperation.” Share this story