New Sahel bloc leaves West Africa more divided than ever
Hindustan TimesThe creation of a Sahel confederation on Saturday plunged West Africa into an unprecedented crisis that could threaten the free movement of people and goods in the region. New Sahel bloc leaves West Africa more divided than ever Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali joined together to create the "Confederation of Sahel States" which will comprise some 72 million people. On Sunday, ECOWAS warned against the "diplomatic and political isolation" of AES countries and the loss of millions of euros in investment. For Nigerien lawyer and political analyst Mahaman Bachar, this threat will not be enough to curb "the AES's desire to distance itself from ECOWAS", and "reciprocity" could be imposed by the Sahel countries. "This would be the beginning of the break-up of the West African sub-regional institution and would be contrary to the ideals of the African Union," said Nigerien finance expert Boubacar Kado.
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