Alliance of Sahel States Forms a Military Bloc to Confront Destabilization Efforts

These three West African countries are under pressure by Neo-Colonialism and Imperialism

By Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday December 24, 2025

Geostrategic Analysis

Three West African countries which comprise the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have now created a 5,000-person military force to fight the threats of terrorism aimed at reinstituting a neo-colonial framework of governance dominated by France and the United States.

Since the destruction of the North African state of Libya in 2011, the rise of armed jihadist groups has spread throughout West Africa where tens of thousands have been killed and dislocated.

Libya under the leadership of Col. Muammar Gaddafi was the most prosperous of all African states on the continent. Under the rubric of the Socialist Arab Peoples Jamahiriya, Gaddafi sought to unite Africa through the restructuring and reframing of the African Union (AU)) beginning in 1999 with the holding of continental gathering in Sirte. 

The Sirte Declaration created the conditions which led to the transition from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) founded in 1963 to the AU in 2002. This shift, in part, sought to institutionalize the vision of the early national independence leaders such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in moving toward a United States of Africa. 

As Nkrumah, the inaugural Leader of Government Business, Prime Minister and then President of the First Republic of Ghana, was overthrown in an U.S.-engineered military and police coup in February 1966, Gaddafi would meet an even worse fate when his country was blanket bombed for seven months killing tens of thousands of people and displacing two million. The Brother Leader Gaddafi was tracked down by NATO allied forces and executed. 

Although the imperialist states responsible for the Libyan destruction, massacres and the coup against the Jamahiriya such as the United States, Britain, France, Canada and their surrogates claimed that the removal of the Gaddafi government would usher in an era of bourgeois democracy patterned on a western capitalist model, what has actually occurred is the failure to reconstitute a unitary state and the mass impoverishment of the people. Soon after the eradication of the Libyan state, armed rebel groupings attacked the central government in Mali prompting the military intervention of France, the former colonial power.

These armed rebel groupings operating under the guise of “Islamic fundamentalism” spread throughout other states in West Africa such as Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Benin. The instability in West Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, prompted a series of military seizures of power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. 

All of these military coups were rationalized on the basis of bringing greater security to the state and the people. The reconfiguration of French neo-colonial control was manifested in the formations of the G5 Sahel and Operation Barkhane, two military alliances dominated by Paris.

Moreover, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) formed in February 2008 had a monumental role to play in the region. Joint military operations between the Pentagon and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were designed ostensibly to enhance the security capacity of the region. 

Yet, despite the role of France, the U.S. and other NATO interests, the security situation continued to deteriorate in West Africa. After the military seizure of power in Mali by Col. Assimi Goita during 2000, more emphasis was placed on removing French and U.S. influence while greater cooperation with the Russian Federation was adopted by Bamako. 

After Mali, other military seizures of power occurred in Burkina Faso and Niger. By the time of the Niger Revolution led by the Committee for the Safeguard of Our Homeland (CNSP) on July 26, 2023, another chapter was initiated in building greater unity and regional security in the Sahel. 

Structure of the AES Military Front

With the formation of the AES involving Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso as well as the Liptako-Gourma Charter signed in September 2023, the stage was set for greater unity in West Africa. A series of measures were mandated with the agreement including strengthened security cooperation.

The idea within the AES and the Liptako-Gourma Charter is that an attack against one member is a threat to all. Consequently, it was inevitable that a military alliance would be created independent of France and the U.S. 

While at the same time, attacks against the AES countries continued with strikes against military forces and government institutions. In Mali, a fuel blockade by western-backed rebels against the capital of Bamako, created serious problems for the population.

A report published by Xinhua News Agency said of the new military formation by the AES:

“Defense and security constitute the first pillar of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) as the bloc moves toward creating a unified force, Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tchiani said Tuesday in Bamako at the end of a 24-hour visit to the Malian capital. Speaking to the press at the Koulouba Palace, Tchiani said AES leaders are determined to ‘create and strengthen a unified force whose general staff is operational with constituted battalions,’ assuring that ‘all defense and security issues will be handled by the general staff of this unified force,’ which is based in Niamey, the capital city of Niger.” (https://english.news.cn/africa/20251001/ff8214595967438a8de9b4bde8e22d54/c.html)

This is a central aspect of the AES and its mission. If these states cannot guarantee the security of the people and state assets, the imperatives of regional unity cannot be realized.

It is also essential that the AES develop unified diplomatic positions on a myriad of issues in their attempts to stave off imperialist plots aimed at dividing these countries. The existence of a unified security apparatus within the AES is indispensable regarding the overall economic development of the region. 

The same report quoted above from Xinhua cites Niger President Abdourahamane Tchiani articulating the other principles of the AES and Liptako-Gourma emphasizing that:

“Diplomacy and development are the two other pillars of the confederation, he added, stressing that ‘to consolidate these three pillars, we meet through intermediate structures to evaluate the progress made and the objectives achieved.’ On diplomacy, the AES remains ‘in the same position and speaks with one voice’ both at the United Nations and at all meetings and forums, he noted. Regarding the Confederation Bank for Investment and Development, the Nigerien president said a meeting would ‘soon’ be held in Bamako ‘to determine the operating modalities of the future financial institution.’"

If the African states are divided diplomatically, it will only provide openings for the imperialists to manipulate these governments to act in contravention of their own interests. The security of the national resources of the AES is important to foster a development agenda for the region.

The AES formally broke with ECOWAS due to its continuing ties with the former colonial powers and U.S. imperialism. Federal Republic of Nigeria President Bola Tinubu, then ECOWAS chairperson, had threatened to intervene in neighboring Niger after the CNSP took power in late July 2023. However, opposition to such an intervention in Nigeria and throughout the region doomed the effort to failure. 

Nonetheless, in the attempted military coup in Benin in November, Nigerian troops carried out airstrikes against the rebel soldiers while working in conjunction with French troops which remain in Cotonou. The AES must guard against similar efforts since the imperialists are seeking to reclaim their dominance in the Sahel region.

Development Outcomes in the AES

Since the formation of the AES there have been significant initiatives on the part of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso aimed at building national and regional unity. Neo-colonialism as a system of governance inherently continues the underdevelopment of the African continent which began under the Atlantic Slave Trade and classical colonialism.

In Mali there are efforts underway to restructure the gold mining industry which has been dominated by western capitalist firms. Several executives of key mining interests have been arrested, prosecuted and fined for illegal activities inside the country.

Niger with its vast uranium resources is attempting to take control of the profits accrued through the sales of this important strategic metal. These policies are closely related to the removal of French and U.S. troops from the country.

Burkina Faso recently unveiled plans for the construction of a new highway to facilitate trade and bolster security interests. In an article published by Africa News, it says of these efforts:

“Approximately 332 km long, Burkina Faso's first expressway will connect the capital Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso in the country's south-west. Burkina Faso's army ruler Captain Ibrahim Traore inaugurated its construction near Ouagadougou. The project is under his Faso Mebo initiative, an ambitious plan to modernize the Sahel country. With at least $357 million earmarked in the 2026 state budget, authorities say they are using locally generated funds to finance the construction. The completion of the highway will facilitate traffic flow along the corridor connecting the ports of Abidjan, Lomé, Tema, and Cotonou with landlocked Sahel.” (https://www.africanews.com/2025/12/21/burkina-faso-starts-building-first-expressway-in-push-to-modernize/)

These development plans are important not just for the AES region. The people of the ECOWAS countries along with the rest of the African continent should take note of the work of the Sahel states which are allied against neo-colonialism and imperialism.