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ECOWAS has appointed Senegalese President Basilou Diomaye Faye as its representative to negotiate with Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has appointed Senegalese President Basilou Diomaye Faye to conduct talks with military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger with the aim of restoring stability in the region since the three countries left the bloc in January.
The West African bloc named Faye as its special envoy to open talks with Sahel leaders at a summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday. Those countries have formed a separate alliance, the Alliance des Etats du Sahel (AES in French), and signed a federation treaty at their first summit in Niamey, the Niger capital, on Saturday.
Omar Allieu Touré, president of the ECOWAS Commission, announced at the summit that Faye, who took office on April 2 and became Africa’s youngest leader, “has all the qualifications to serve as mediator.”
Faye was sworn in as Senegal’s president after winning the country’s presidential election earlier this year. At his inauguration ceremony, he pledged sweeping economic reforms, sovereignty over Senegal’s key industries and the promotion of peace in Africa.
Touré noted that “the region also faces the risk of disintegration” after the three AES member states signed a federal treaty. He added: “When you withdraw from an agreement, you are definitely not part of it. If the agreement involves free trade, free movement of people, then the risk of losing these benefits remains.”
Meanwhile, ECOWAS re-elected Nigerian President Bola Tinubu as its chairman for a one-year term.
The Sahel Summit aims to further consolidate the AES alliance announced last September, when Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger signed a charter agreeing to assist each other in the event of external aggression or internal threats to sovereignty. Mali will chair the alliance for a one-year term.
Sahel leaders have ruled out returning to the West African economic bloc. Niger’s leader, Abdelhamane Kiyani, said: “Our people have irreversibly turned their backs on ECOWAS.”
The three countries have severed military ties with France, accusing ECOWAS of acting as a tool of foreign powers, especially France, and posing a threat to their sovereignty.
（RT.com）
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