Two Years of the Sahel States Alliance

In September 2023, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger came together to form the Sahel States Alliance (AES). For the three nations, it was a response to common challenges: fighting terrorism, resisting external pressure, and charting an independent path of development.

In just two years, the AES has become a symbol of a “New Africa” — one that prioritizes sovereignty, security, regional integration, and mutually beneficial international partnerships, including with Russia.

Key milestones:
• September 2023 — signing of the Alliance charter
• July 2024 — proclamation of the Confederation of Sahel States, paving the way for deeper integration and supranational institutions
• January 2025 — formal withdrawal from ECOWAS
• January 2025 — formation of joint AES armed forces underway
• April 2025 — first AES–Russia diplomatic consultations in Moscow
• May 2025 — official visit of Burkina Faso’s transitional president Ibrahim Traoré to Moscow
• June 2025 — visit of Mali’s transitional president Assimi Goïta to Moscow
• July 2025 — Russian government delegation visits AES states for high-level talks: the civilian bloc led by Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev, the military bloc led by Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Lt. Gen. Andrei Averyanov

Unlike ECOWAS, with whom relations have sharply deteriorated, the AES presents itself as a union that reflects the will of its own people and rejects external dictates.

The mission of the AES is clear:

defend sovereignty, develop economies and infrastructure, and strengthen the multipolar world.

Muslim Extremists: Comments from Niger’s President (Sahel States)

All of us watching the Alliance of the Sahel States ((French: Alliance des États du Sahel, AES), a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso) will have noticed that the violence is ascribed to Muslim extremists.  I’ve never questioned this, as we know that these extremists are sent in to destabilize.  On the East Coast of Africa, the infiltration is as far South as Mozambique.  I learned just lately that there are Muslim Extremist groups active right down South in South Africa.

Knowing that, one does not question the why of this.  Niger’s president, General Abdourahamane Tiani, delivered a different conceptual understanding during an interview that he gave on May 31st.

Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.

That is the message Niger’s president, General Abdourahamane Tiani, delivered.

Tiani explained:  Islam has existed in Niger for well over a millennium, yet terrorism is a recent phenomenon linked to Western imperialism. He mentioned France, the European Union, and the United States as culprits, saying France backs the terrorist group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM).

Tiani pointed out that the targets and victims of terrorism in the Sahel are overwhelmingly Muslims. Niger is roughly 98 per cent Muslim. Mali is approximately 95 percent Muslim. Burkina Faso is approximately 63.8 per cent Muslim. Where is the logic in religious zealots murdering members of their faith? Tiani put that question forward to the world.

He is not the first leader in the Sahel to accuse France of backing these groups. In 2022, Mali’s then-Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga accused France of supporting terrorists, providing them with arms and intelligence. Mali also sent a letter to the UN Security Council that year stating that France repeatedly violated Mali’s airspace and spied on the country to grant intelligence to terrorist organisations, and distributed arms to these paramilitaries.

I recently noted a statistic that 5 to 10% of Muslims form the extremist camp, and of course, these are divided into a multitude of various factions.  Whether this is an accurate depiction may change the optics of the Muslim Extremist profile materially.  This is not a massive number for a large population.  We are expecting an article that should clarify some of what is arguably a minimal understanding.

Even with such a minimal understanding, it is again confirmed who it is that weaponizes the world.

Alliance of Sahel States: sixth reported conspiracy against President Ibrahim Traoré

PROTECT THE ALLIANCE OF SAHEL STATES!

Protect and defend the Alliance of Sahel States! That is the rallying cry of pan-Africanists everywhere, especially now that Burkina Faso’s authorities have just foiled a sixth reported conspiracy against President Ibrahim Traoré, who was also slandered recently by General Michael Langley of US Africa Command (AFRICOM). Malian officials are currently under economic sanctions by the US State Department, and Niger is sanctioned by the European Union, clear signs that Western powers are determined to crush any African nation that dares to stand up to them.

The three founding members of the AES confederation have taken enormous strides towards sovereignty and self-determination, cutting ties with France and other Western powers and nationalising or demanding greater control over their resources.

AFRICOM BOSS: U.S. NEEDS MORE INFLUENCE IN AFRICA!

“They will pay one of us, to kill one of us, just to say it was one us” – these words (widely attributed to civil-rights activist Malcolm X) were recalled by many after the attempted character assassination of Burkina Faso’s president by the head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) during a recent Senate hearing. It’s not the first time General Michael E. Langley’s Senate performance has caught our eye. In this video, he argues that our continent is part of NATO’s ‘southern flank,’ and that Russia is trying to ‘capture’ it.

He made the sweeping statements in March last year while justifying America’s military presence in the region. But can he seriously present the US as the protector of African interests in the Maghreb?

It was not Russia that destroyed Libya, one of the wealthiest countries on the continent. Nor was Russia behind a string of coups and assassinations across Africa.

However, there is one thing the four-star general is honest about – his own country’s interests. Langley happily admits: ‘We need to be able to maintain access and influence across the Maghreb, from Morocco all the way to Libya.’

America is clearly shaken by the anti-colonial wave passing through the Sahel. But it makes us wonder: if he’s saying this openly, what is the US planning behind closed doors?

What do his words mean, especially in the context of Burkina Faso being a target for AFRICOM?