By Oumar Keita in Bamako
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a regional bloc made up of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, has unveiled plans to strengthen economic and infrastructure ties among its members. Leaders from the three countries want to boost cooperation beyond security and defence and build tangible projects that bind their economies more closely together.
As part of this effort, AES is promoting an ambitious regional railway network that would link the capitals of its member states, Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Bamako in Mali, and Niamey in Niger, improving trade and passenger transit across the Sahel. Initiatives such as this are seen as steps toward deeper economic integration among landlocked states that lack direct access to coastal ports. (The Sahel Railway has been discussed in regional planning as a key piece of trans‑Sahel connectivity.)
In addition to transport infrastructure, AES has completed the establishment of a regional investment bank and announced progress toward launching a regional airline. The investment bank, known as the Confederal Bank for Investment and Development, was created with pooled capital from the member states to finance joint infrastructure, energy, agricultural and private‑sector projects without depending on outside lenders or traditional global institutions.
Officials say AES has already mobilized about $1 billion from within its own member states to support these initiatives, notably without external financial backers or conditions commonly associated with Western or international development funds. This reflects the alliance’s broader goal of economic self‑reliance and reduced dependence on regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), from which the three countries formally withdrew in early 2025.
The bloc, formed initially as a mutual defence pact in 2023 and later formalised into a confederation, is pursuing integration on multiple fronts, security, diplomacy, and economic infrastructure, even as it faces ongoing insurgencies and strained relations with Western regional institutions.
