Military-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have finalised plans to form a confederation after turning their backs on former colonial ruler France to seek closer ties with Russia.
- Their Foreign Ministers met recently in Niger’s capital Niamey to agree on a text establishing the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
- The Sahel region has been subject to deadly jihadist violence for years, which they accused France of not being able to curb.
- The three countries said in January 2024 that they were quitting The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping.
