Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso took a further step in their rapprochement on Wednesday March 6 by announcing the creation of a joint military force to fight against the jihadists who have been attacking them for years.
This announcement comes after the creation by these countries, led by military regimes resulting from coups d'état, of an Alliance of Sahel States (AES), followed by their exit from the Economic Community of African States. West (ECOWAS), which had threatened to intervene militarily after the putsch that overthrew elected President Mohammed Bazoum on July 26, 2023 in Niger. Meeting in Niamey, the heads of the armies of the three countries announced on Wednesday the creation of an anti-jihadist “joint force”.
This “joint force of the AES countries (…) will be operational as soon as possible to take into account the security challenges in our space”, indicates General Moussa Salaou Barmou, Nigerien Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, in a press release published at the end of the meeting. The contours and numbers of this force have not been specified.
“We are convinced that with the combined efforts of our three countries, we will succeed in creating the conditions for shared security,” assured General Barmou. He stressed that the three armies had managed to “develop an operational concept” which “will enable the achievement of defense and security objectives” in the immense territory of the three countries.
In Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, faced with recurring and deadly jihadist violence for years, civilian governments have been overthrown by successive military coups since 2020.
Reconciliation with Russia
These three countries, former French colonies, turned their backs on Paris and moved closer economically and militarily to new partners, including Russia, before regrouping within the AES, with the ultimate objective of creating a federation. At the end of January, they also announced that they were leaving ECOWAS without being bound by a one-year deadline, as provided for in the organization's texts.
Their leaders, General Abdourahamane Tiani (Niger), Colonel Assimi Goïta (Mali) and Captain Ibrahim Traoré (Burkina) have repeatedly accused this organization of being subservient to France. They also criticized him for not having supported them in the fight they are waging against jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, which regularly strike them, causing thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people.
After threatening to intervene militarily in Niger, ECOWAS recently reached out to the three military regimes, calling in early February for “reconciliation”. On February 24, it lifted the heavy sanctions it had imposed on Niger to secure the release of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and his reinstatement in office after having renounced doing so by force. The three regimes have indicated that their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS is “irreversible”.
After the creation of the joint military force, a next step could be the exit of the CFA franc, common to a majority of French-speaking countries in West Africa, and the creation of a common currency for the AES.
“Currency is a step out of [la] colonization,” General Tiani declared in early February. “Currency is a sign of sovereignty,” he continued, and the AES States are “engaged in a process of recovering [their] total sovereignty.” “There is no longer any question of our States being France’s cash cow,” he said.
