The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) have agreed to establish joint working groups to negotiate a cooperation deal, in a move to protect cross-border trade, security collaboration and other regional ties strained by the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS.
The agreement was reached on Saturday in Dakar, Senegal, at the first ministerial meeting of the ECOWAS-AES Dialogue on Cooperation, with both sides committing to technical discussions towards a framework that would safeguard their respective interests.
The talks seek to provide a structured channel for engagement between ECOWAS and the three Sahelian countries, whose departure from the regional bloc has raised concerns over trade routes, the movement of people and goods, and cooperation against insecurity across West Africa.
In a joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the parties said the working groups would examine areas of common interest, with their findings to be submitted to the ministers for consideration before the next session. No date or venue was announced for the next meeting.
The meeting was co-chaired by Senegal’s Minister of African Integration, Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, Cheikh Niang, President of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, and Burkina Faso’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, chairman of the AES Ministerial Steering Committee.
The initiative follows consultations held in Bamako, Mali, on May 22, 2025, and comes amid efforts to manage the consequences of the three countries’ withdrawal from ECOWAS, which took effect on January 29, 2025.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced their intention to leave the bloc in January 2024 after prolonged disputes with ECOWAS over military rule, sanctions and demands for a return to constitutional government. The three countries subsequently consolidated their separate regional arrangement, established initially as the Alliance of Sahel States, into the Confederation of Sahel States in July 2024.
Their departure has complicated the outlook for regional integration, given the countries’ longstanding commercial and social links with coastal West African states and their dependence on cross-border transport corridors for trade.
The security implications are also significant. The Sahel continues to face militant violence, while the movement of armed groups across porous borders makes coordination among neighbouring countries an important regional concern.
The Dakar communiqué, however, did not specify whether trade, border management or security would be the first priorities of the working groups. Nor did it indicate that the negotiations would lead to the reversal of the withdrawals or the restoration of the three countries’ ECOWAS membership.
The parties said their future relations would be guided by good-neighbourliness, respect for sovereignty, dignity and the welfare of West African populations. They also welcomed what they described as an atmosphere of fraternity, mutual respect and openness during the discussions.
Both sides reaffirmed the historical, socio-cultural and economic ties linking their peoples and expressed a commitment to a balanced and realistic cooperation framework.
They thanked Senegalese President Bassirou Faye, the government and people of Senegal for hosting the meeting and supporting West African integration.
Michael Olugbode
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