Ministers from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic plan to proceed with the institution of a confederation, the Malian overseas ministry mentioned on Thursday.
This was because the three nations deepened ties by way of an alliance that threatened broader West African integration.
The most recent assembly comes simply weeks after the neighbours within the impoverished Sahel area introduced in January 2024 their withdrawal from the Financial Neighborhood of West African states- a choice the bloc has urged them to rethink, warning of the extra hardships this withdrawal would convey.
All three have been founding members of the regional bloc in 1975 however had been suspended following navy coups that overthrew elected civilian governments.
Burkina’s Defence Minister Normal Kassoum Coulibaly mentioned the talks in Ouagadougou have been a chance to pursue the implementation of “devices, mechanisms and procedures” and the “authorized structure for the confederation” as quoted by Reuters.
The procedures will “permit our alliance and the confederation to operate effectively and to the good pleasure” of the three nations’ populations, his Niger counterpart Normal Salifou Modi mentioned.
Final November, their finance ministers mentioned they might weigh the choice of establishing a financial union and prime officers from all three nations have, to various levels, voiced assist for abandoning West Africa’s CFA franc widespread foreign money.
The juntas have all severed long-standing navy ties with former colonial ruler France, dealing a blow to France’s affect within the Sahel and complicating worldwide efforts to battle the militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
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