The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) continues to establish its institutions. In Ouagadougou, the parliamentary speakers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met with the confederation’s president, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, to receive his directives ahead of the official inauguration of the confederal parliament.
After the meeting, officials announced that the appointment of deputies should occur soon, paving the way for the inaugural session of this new assembly. The confederal parliament’s mission will include representing the populations of the three member states, supporting the work of AES institutions, and contributing to the consolidation of the political project led by the authorities of the three nations.
This initiative marks a fresh milestone in the institutional development of the Alliance of Sahel States, which aims to establish its own governance bodies following its withdrawal from ECOWAS.
However, the gathering takes place against a particularly worrying security backdrop. In recent weeks, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have faced a resurgence of jihadist attacks, sometimes on an unprecedented scale, resulting in heavy losses among defense forces and civilian populations. Some analysts note that seeing the highest parliamentary authorities of the AES meet to fast-track the creation of a parliament, while no high-level meeting has been specifically announced to address the worsening security crisis, raises questions about the ordering of priorities.
This perception fuels criticism from those who believe that AES leaders are now placing significant emphasis on building new political institutions, while the security emergency continues to weigh heavily on communities. Without questioning the long-term value of a confederal parliament, these voices argue that such an orientation could be misunderstood in a context where citizens expect concrete responses to the increasing attacks.
Beyond its institutional significance, this development is also seen by some analysts as the start of a more pronounced political divide in West Africa. By progressively building its own institutions, the AES asserts its autonomy from ECOWAS, risking a deeper separation between the two regional blocs and complicating prospects for broader political and security cooperation.
