Junta-led Sahel trio to hold first joint summit, likely to launch confederal union

The junta-leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are set to hold their first ever joint summit of the so-called ‘Alliance of Sahel States’ (AES) since seizing power in a series of coups in Niger’s capital Niamey this weekend.
“Our country will be hosting on Saturday (6 July) the first summit of the AES heads of state from Burkina, Mali and Niger,” they said in a statement read out on public radio. The meeting of the three military rulers will be held on the eve of a summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), six months after announcing their withdrawal from the major regional bloc, which they claimed was under French influence. The AES is an economic and defense pact.
In mid-May, the foreign ministers of the three countries finalized plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia, Turkey and Iran. “The objective was to finalize the draft text relating to the institutionalization and operationalization of the AES,” said Nigerian foreign minister Bakary Yaou Sangare after the trio’s meeting. The draft text creating the confederation is expected to be adopted by the three junta-leaders at the summit this weekend. This will represent an important step in the process of political and socio-economic integration of the three countries, strengthening their strategic leverage, according to Mali’s foreign ministry.