On July 6, 2024, the military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger signed a new defense pact called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) during a summit in Niger’s capital. This pact, designed to support each other against rebellions and external threats, marks a bold move away from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which the three countries left in January 2024. The AES aims to reclaim national sovereignty and resist foreign control, signaling a significant shift in power dynamics in the insurgency-torn central Sahel and a strong stance against former colonial powers like France, the UK, and the US.

One day before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) conference began on July 7, the military authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger signed a new defense deal during a summit in Niamey, Niger, according to Reuters and other press agencies.

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) was announced in September of last year, and the three countries will leave ECOWAS in January 2024. The agreement is to defend each other against armed revolt or external assault. Coups in a half-dozen Sahel countries in recent years, including three between 2020 and 2023, have severed military and diplomatic ties with several regional allies and Western powers.

This is the AES’s inaugural summit, and it heralds a stronger alignment among Central Sahelian neighbors—a catastrophic blow to colonial France and its patrons in London and Washington.

“Formalizing the treaty to establish a confederation confirms the rejection by Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) … which had hoped to persuade the three to reconsider their decision in January to quit the bloc.

“‘Our peoples have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,’ [Niger’s Gen. Abdourahmane Tiani] said in a speech. ‘It is up to us today to make the AES Confederation an alternative to any artificial regional group by building … a community free from the control of foreign powers.’

“In a communiqué issued after the summit, the countries said they had agreed to coordinate diplomatic actions, create an AES investment bank and stabilization fund, and pool their resources to set up projects in strategic sectors including mining, energy, and agriculture.

“The heads of state ‘welcomed their irrevocable withdrawal without delay from ECOWAS,’ it said.”

According to Deutsche Welle, Burkina Faso’s commander, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, has accused Western countries of exploiting Africa. “Westerners believe that we belong to them, as does our money. They believe they are the ones who must continue to tell us what is best for our states. This age is over; our resources will remain for us and our people,’ Traoré stated.

“‘The attack on one of us will be an attack on all the other members,’ Mali’s leader Col. Assimi Goïta also said.”

Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that Dmitry Maksimychev, the Russian ambassador to Kenya, criticized the West for exploiting Africa, noting that raw commodities from Africa are significantly undervalued compared to the finished products they eventually become.