West Africa: Ecowas Appoints Senegal's Faye to Engage Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger

Présidence de la République du Sénégal/Page Facebook
Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
8 July 2024
The Accra Times (Accra)
By Gifty Danso

As a peace envoy supported by Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, Faye is seen as possibly the best among heads of state for a mission to try to woo the three nations back to the fold of regional cooperation

Senegal's youngest leader, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been mandated by West African regional bloc ECOWAS to mediate the return of junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger back to its fold.

The decision was made at the 65th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS heads of state on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Abuja.

As a peace envoy supported by Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, Faye is seen as possibly the best among heads of state for a mission to try to woo the three nations back to the fold of regional cooperation, the AP reported.

"Regarding the situation with the Alliance des Etats du Sahel (AES), the Authority expresses disappointment with the lack of progress in engagements with the authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and instructs the President of the Commission to facilitate a more vigorous approach in line with the decisions of the Extraordinary Summit of 2 4th February 2024," ECOWAS said in a statement after an summit which saw Nigerian president Bola Tinubu re-elected as chairman of the bloc.

The events are also coming at a surprising time when a day before the ECOWAS summit, military leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed a confederation treaty that aims to strengthen a mutual defence pact announced last year, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

However, ECOWAS fears that the region risks disintegration and worsening insecurity after the exit of the three countries.

And so in addition to the task to have Faye hold talks with the junta-led countries, the Authority of heads of states directed the "Commission to develop a forward-looking contingency plan for its consideration regarding all eventualities in relations with the AES countries.

Read the original article on Accra Times.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2024 The Accra Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.