Alliance of Sahel States: “A new perspective for the citizens”

The global tendency may be towards protectionism and building walls around countries. But three African states, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso went the opposite direction and founded the Alliance of Sahel States, effectively uniting their states.

We asked Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, foreign minister of Burkina Faso, why they took this step and how it affected his country.

Can you explain the motivation behind establishing the Alliance of Sahel States?

I think it’s important to provide some clarification on what was the basis of this new structure, this new space. The three countries experienced a space of solidarity that was unlike anything else. The fact of remaining in a situation where you knew what you wanted, that is to say, more solidarity, more cooperation, more mutual support.

And I believe that the advantage that our three countries had, in a naturally sad circumstance, which is that of insecurity, of terrorism, led them to become aware of their real need, to assess their weakness, but also to assess their own capacity in terms of solidarity.

And this is what carries the confederal vision today, which is built on courageous decisions, which says, ‘we can restructure our space built on courageous decisions’, to say, ‘we can restructure our space by starting with our own capacities’. The endogenous notion today takes up more space.

Because we realized that the approach based on extroversion did not keep its promises. And extroversion was not only at the economic level, but it was also at all levels.

And today, at the level of the confederal space, it is actually a question of reviewing the mosaic, of consolidating it to give a new basis to this new space. I think that the principles that guide these decisions are 1. to ensure that the positive achievements that we already had can be saved, but to work to consolidate them in the confederal space to open new perspectives from an economic, social, security point of view, everything that prompts the dynamic at the African level. Secondly, to create new conditions, the real conditions for reviving the super-regional economy, to create real markets within it, which was sorely lacking.

We’re not in a process that involves going against what’s happening, but rather rebuilding the base. That had a strong impact. What does rebuilding the base mean? Creating the conditions so that we can ourselves start from an endogenous economy that will gradually structure itself to embrace the rest of the space.

And the advantage of consolidation at our level stems first from a problem, that of the security issue, which led us to build a space that redraws the maps in the very representation of the head of the Sahel, the new cartography, envisaged a unique space. Today, the confederal space is a unique operational space in the field of security.

It leads citizens to have a new perspective, and that will be reflected in the relationships we have with each other, but also in the context of our exchanges. So, there is definitely a new dynamic of solidarity underway.

How would you describe the progress in the fight against terrorism?

To give you an example, in Burkina Faso it was not possible to organize the Tour du Faso (international bicycle race, UWI) in 2022, but that we did it in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In 2022, our country was 50% occupied by terrorists. By the beginning of 2025, we are now at more than 71% of the territories recovered.

Before 2022, more than 6,500 schools were closed in Burkina Faso. In 2023, 1,500 schools opened. 2,100,000 people were displaced in 2022. In 2024, there are fewer than 900,000 people in displaced camps.

We just had the Pan-African Film Festival in Ouagadougou. It’s one of the largest festivals that couldn’t be organized for more than three years and which mobilized almost 50 delegations from all over the world and examined 235 films. I think these are statistics that speak to a real situation.

I, who am here, speaking to you, am from a region where we could not go for three years. In my own village, we could not go for three years. But when you are in Ouaga, and you have a school friend who calls you to tell you that he is in his third year because of insecurity, you realize that you have a reading that is totally different from what comes out in these reports.

And the Tour de Faso isn’t done in armored vehicles, it’s by bicycle. They go from village to village, from province to province, it’s kilometers, and it’s spread out over several weeks. No cyclist leaves with a broken finger.

What are the ways for the new cooperation, which has been formed by the three countries, how will this new cooperation be able to amplify its influence in global politics and contribute internationally through this same Confederation?

Yes. So, I think what the new Confederation is trying to do and succeeding in is firstly to offer a new perspective to this entity that has long been confined and presented as the space of… I mean, it’s an uninteresting periphery. We are considering refocusing things on our own capabilities, offering a safe space for investors.

In Burkina Faso, we have inaugurated more than 5 factories this year. I believe that if the situation were as dangerous, we would not have seen investors. In some ways, I believe that things are improving. Working to create a Sahelian market first, driven by Sahelians and supplied by Sahelians, between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, but also with other countries that are at the level of ECOWAS.

The three countries maintain very good relations with their neighbors. We have these relationships of interdependence that must be preserved, strengthened, but developed first and foremost for the benefit of the people of the Sahel. This is what has been lacking. And that’s why I spoke earlier about extroversion. Today, what we want is for Burkina Faso’s gold to shine internationally, because we can feel the sparkle in the eyes of the Sahel’s children.

Niger cannot produce uranium and sleep in the dark. We are working to give a new face to our economy that first shows the populations that this works, they are the first beneficiaries before developing relations with the other countries. So, I believe that this is above all what makes the specificity of the Confederation.

And it is this vision that is carried by the three heads of state, based on our own capabilities, to build resilient and sustainable economies.