An important meeting between the African Union and the leadership of the Confederation of Sahel States

Written by Mohamed Salem

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso and President of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES), received the current President of the African Union (AU), General Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi, at Ouagadougou International Airport on Monday morning.

The itinerary of the rotating president of the continental organization includes talks with the president of the AES Confederation and visits to socio-economic infrastructure in the Burkinabe capital.

Talks between the African Union and the Sahel Confederation

The visit program includes bilateral talks and a tour of socio-economic projects in Ouagadougou, in an important meeting between the leadership of the African Union and the leadership of AES.

Confederation of Sahel States

The Confederation of Sahel States (AES) was established on July 6, 2024, led by the new governments of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to promote common defense and political and economic integration.

The establishment of this new African bloc, which was created in response to ECOWAS threats of military intervention in those countries, came in the name of full sovereign independence, amid major security and economic challenges in the African Sahel region.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been facing violent armed conflicts for many years between central governments and terrorist and jihadist groups, which has threatened the stability of these countries.

The three countries were also subject to sanctions from the ECOWAS group, before the three countries announced their simultaneous departure from the group.

The three countries, along with Mauritania and Chad, formed the G5 Sahel group in the African Sahel region, which for ten years remained the most prominent regional framework in approaches to seeking security in the Sahel.

The three countries successively withdrew from the ECOWAS group, which remained empty after numerous rescue attempts undertaken by Mauritania, the host country.

The ambition of the Sahel Confederation countries

The countries of the Sahel Confederation seek to become among the major African countries, by achieving development, stability and security for the people of these countries who have suffered for many years.

These countries represent a large market with abundant stocks of wealth, especially gold, in terms of actual production, potential production in the foreseeable future, and huge reserves.

These countries also contain uranium, phosphates, and many other minerals, which are a key part of what the competing powers in the region are salivating over.