Experts prepare high-level meeting of the Alliance of Sahel States in Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Experts from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met on Monday in Ouagadougou to prepare for a meeting of ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to be held next Thursday in the capital of Burkina Faso, diplomatic sources said.
This session, which is being held as a prelude to the meeting of ministers scheduled for 15 February, aims to deepen reflections and make amendments to the AES charter with a view to creating a confederation of the three states.
On 28 January 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger withdrew "without delay" from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The three states created the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to pool their forces in the fight against terrorism. -
Speaking on the issue to Burkina Faso's economic operators on Monday, the country's Prime Minister, Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambèla, said that withdrawing from ECOWAS "will enable us to reorganize ourselves according to our interests and to sign bilateral agreements with those who wish to do so, in various areas according to mutual interests, and in an independent manner without the interference of any power whatsoever".
He maintained that "nothing prevents us from renewing or adapting our relations with each ECOWAS member state "if necessary".
"But never again will anyone be able to impose anything on us or make us submit to anything".
"Our withdrawal from ECOWAS is not directed against anyone, against any institution, against any State. It is about assuming our sovereignty and ensuring the security and prosperity of the people of our region. However, we will respond to provocations wherever they come from," he said.
In an interview on Niger's national television on Sunday, Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, President of Niger's transitional government, emphasized that the ESA's vision was to restore security to this troubled area so that its riches were not plundered.
He maintained that the countries of the AES have put forward good governance, so that the resources of the AES countries benefit the peoples of the AES States.
"It is an oath that is translated into action, and if you have seen it in Niger, it is physical and it is real, in Burkina as in Mali, it is physical and it is real," he said, according to the Agence nigérienne de presse (ANP).
"We must work together to find the mechanisms that will enable us to strengthen trade so that this AES zone is a zone of prosperity and not one of insecurity," explained the President of Niger's transitional government.
-0- PANA TNDD/IS/SOC/BBA/RA 12Feb2024
