Sahel Alliance now official as Mali, Burkina Faso & Niger reject ECOWAS

West Africa is changing rapidly in a quest to distance itself from neo-colonialism

This is big news. Remember the coalition of west African nations I spoke about last year? Captain Traore, General Tchiani and Assimi Goita have signed the Sahel Alliance making the coalition official. The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) was a response to sanctions imposed by ECOWAS and backed by the US, France, and the UK.

The leaders of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, who have recently experienced coups, are anti-West and anti-neocolonialism. They expelled Western troops and formed the AES to defend each other and have sought new allies like Russia.

This move challenges the influence of ECOWAS and gives African nations a choice between the two blocs. The AES could potentially expand and create a unified economic block in Africa.

Watch my overview here and a full podcast episode will cover this as well as a number of other topics.