🔆 Alliance of Sahel States: A beacon of hope

These three countries, despite the scourge of ongoing terrorism, are doing it right and one cannot help but hope and wish them the best. Doing it right? Yes, first they expelled the overlords knowing that one cannot negotiate with a controlled racist imperialist and neocolonial power. With this move, they took their economic power back and put back in their own hands the infrastructure (minimal as these are poor countries) and the mining of minerals. Second, they made sure every step of the way that they had their citizens with them, ensuring social sovereignty and solidarity as a start. Third, they disassociated from African groups that were still mentally colonized (ECOWAS). They managed to come this far without the typical violence of African Coups. With becoming a federation, they will correct some of the historical colonial border inequities.
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The Conference

The historic Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel took place 19-21 November in Niamey, the capital of Niger. Hundreds of participants gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre from popular movements and organisations across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States to express solidarity with the people of the Sahel, an arid region south of the Sahara Desert.

In a powerful speech during the event, Jonis Ghedi Alasow, the executive director of Pan-Africanism Today, coordinator of its secretariat and one of the conference organisers, described the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) as a beacon of hope for states that were once under France’s oppressive rule. However, even after the end of formal colonialism, most French-speaking African countries were forced to use the France-controlled CFA franc currency.

Between 2021 and 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—with the support of their populations—expelled Western-aligned governments through coups d’état and demanded the withdrawal of French troops from their territories. These countries faced isolation from their Western-aligned neighbours, particularly the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which imposed sanctions in response. To further defend their territories against the scourge of terrorism that Western military occupations had not stopped, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger united to form the AES confederation, an anti-imperialist bloc that shares defence, economic and foreign policies. It plans to move toward becoming a federation, with the goal of continental unification.

The conference symbolised hope in the ongoing struggle against neocolonialism in Africa’s Sahel region and throughout Africa, igniting the spirit of revolution among African peoples.

The March

Shouts of “Free, Free Palestine” and “Down with Imperialism” rang through the streets of Niamey as anti-imperialists from Niger and around the world marched together against Israel’s genocide on Thursday, November 21. The march culminating in the landmark Thomas Sanakra Memorial came at the conclusion of the three-day Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel, organized by the Pan-Africanism Today Secretariat and the West African People’s Organization.

The march was no symbolic event. Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have been in the frontlines of the struggle against imperialism over the past few years. After a series of military coups in the region, the new government took decisive positions against French troops and economic dominance in the region. Together, these governments have formed the Alliance of Sahel States, working together to defeat the impact of sanctions and terrorism. These measures have been strongly backed by people’s organizations in the region who see the struggle against French imperialism as a struggle for a second independence.

The Declaration

Participants from various parts of the world—The Americas, Asia, and Africa—attended the Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel. This event was organised by the West African Peoples’ Organisation (WAPO) and the Pan Africanism Today Secretariat (PAT). It took place from 19-21 November 2024, at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre in Niamey, under the theme “For Anti-Imperialist Unity, Peace, and Friendship Between Peoples.” We hereby issue the following declaration:

I. International Context

The world faces a multidimensional crisis on the brink of a third World War, characterised by the aggressive and offensive actions of imperialist powers led by the United States and their NATO allies. These powers engage in actions that signal their decline—including commanding massacres and genocides in Gaza and Lebanon and inflaming the wars from Ukraine to Western Sahara and Sudan. They are inciting multiple provocative actions in Southeast Asia, maintaining an over six decade long illegal blockade against Cuba and imposing sanctions on the Venezuelan people as part of their global tyranny.

As participants of the Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel, we strongly condemn these acts, which we view as fuel for a potential full-scale third world war. We hold the United States and its NATO allies responsible for these actions and demand an immediate cessation of the atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon, an end to blockades against Cuba and Venezuela, and a stop to imperialist provocations worldwide for the peace of humanity.
II. African Context and Specific Focus on the Sahel Region

1. 140 years ago on November 15, 1884, fourteen European colonial powers led by German Chancellor Bismarck convened in Berlin to divide the African continent for their gain. Following centuries of exploiting tens of millions of African workers through slavery, these European nations physically occupied Africa to exploit its rich natural resources.

2. During this division, France and the United Kingdom claimed the largest portions of West Africa. France came to control large parts of the Sahel, taking the supposedly less fertile desert regions, while the United Kingdom occupied Africa’s more fertile, populous regions.

3. Whilst heroic liberation struggles were waged and significant gains won, independence in the 1960s did not translate into true sovereignty, especially for French Colonies. The nations of the AES remained tethered as “French Enclosures” in Africa, where all aspects of sovereignty, from currency and defence to natural resources, were controlled by France through puppet governments coerced by a permanent military presence. Continuous exploitation made the so-called Francophone African states among the poorest globally, with Niger as a poignant example.

4. Recent coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger stem from rulers’ failures to protect their nations against French imperial aggression and their cultivation of terrorist forces. This includes the connivance and complicity of these former Governments with terrorists in the massacres against the population. These coups also reflect widespread discontent and a call for substantial change within these countries.
III. Support for the Resolute Peoples and Leaders of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)

1. We commend the governments emerging from recent coups for adopting patriotic measures to reclaim political and economic sovereignty over their territories and natural resources. These measures include terminating neocolonial agreements, demanding the withdrawal of French, American, and other foreign forces, and undertaking ambitious plans for sovereign development.

2. We are particularly encouraged by these countries’ formation of the Alliance of Sahel States. This move revitalises the legacy of Pan-African leaders and represents a concrete step toward true independence and Pan-African unity.

3. These governments currently enjoy widespread support from their citizens, who drive and rally around these revolutionary actions. This unity is crucial for achieving democratic and patriotic ideals and is an aspirational development model for other African nations.

In conclusion, while much remains to be done toward the complete liberation of the Sahel states, we are optimistic that these governments, by continuing to listen to their people, will fulfil their objectives for total national liberation and contribute to the broader goal of a unified and free Africa.

We stand together with popular and revolutionary forces in the Sahel in their struggle for full and total sovereignty. We depart Niamey with a commitment to defend the advances the people have made in the Sahel and Rally the internationalist forces around the world to this aim.

Long live patriotism, anti-imperialism, and Pan-Africanism!

France and Allies, withdraw!

The Participants.

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It will not be an easy process. Just in and getting resources to those that will start an upheaval:

EU recalls its ambassador from Niger as relations deteriorate

The European Union (EU) has recalled its ambassador from Niamey, Niger’s capital, for consultations in Brussels following tensions with the country’s transitional authorities regarding EU humanitarian aid for flood victims in the West African nation.

“The European Union has taken note of the statement issued by Niger’s transitional authorities, challenging the modalities and management of humanitarian aid provided by the EU Delegation to the victims of severe flooding in the country,” the statement read.

On Friday, Niger’s transitional government criticized the EU for allocating €1.3 million in humanitarian aid without prior consultation. A government statement accused the EU ambassador of redistributing these funds to NGOs “unilaterally,” allegedly ignoring transparency principles and bypassing collaboration with Nigerien authorities. An audit of the fund’s management was requested.

In response, an EU spokesperson expressed “profound disagreement” with Niger’s allegations, viewing them as a direct challenge to the EU’s management of its humanitarian support. Consequently, the EU decided to recall its ambassador.