ECOWAS and AES to set up working groups for cooperation agreement — The Rio Times

Representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) held their first formal negotiation session in Dakar, Senegal, on October 17 following Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger’s withdrawal from the regional bloc. The sides agreed to establish joint thematic working groups to prepare a framework cooperation agreement, The Rio Times reports.

Agreements in Dakar

Following the ministerial dialogue, the delegations signed a joint eight-point communiqué. It states that future relations should be based on good-neighborliness, respect for sovereignty, dignity and the well-being of the people of West Africa.

The working groups will hold technical consultations, and their results will be submitted to ministers before the next session. The sides will determine the time and venue of the new ministerial meeting through diplomatic consultations. According to RFI, the thematic groups will consider the free movement of people and goods, trade, and the fight against terrorism.

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Participants in the negotiations

The ECOWAS delegation was led by Senegal’s Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, Cheikh Niang, who also chairs the organization’s Council of Ministers. On the AES side, the talks were led by Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, chair of the confederation’s ministerial steering committee.

The AES committee also includes Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop and Niger’s Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangaré. The sides presented the dialogue as a process of creating a new cooperation mechanism, rather than negotiations on the return of the three states to ECOWAS. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger officially ended their membership in the organization on January 29, 2025.