The countries of the Sahel Confederation AES, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, continue in their project of mutual integration towards increasing self-reliance and sovereignty with various industrial, economic, security, and infrastructure projects aimed at improving the living conditions of the inhabitants.
In Mali, the company’s new production facilities‘ SDA Agro Industrie’ promoted by former national football team captain and star of FC Barcelona and AS Roma, Seydou Keita, have just started up in Sanankoroba.
The industry, equipped with a solar power plant, includes units for producing shea butter, edible oils, liquid transport drums, animal feed and soap. Some 500 people are currently employed there and an increase in production capacity is planned. The former footballer took up the invitation made by the Malian transitional authorities to his compatriots in the diaspora to invest in the country to help diversify the national economy and encourage new constructive investments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocrkpY-u-vk
The acting President of AES, Assimi GOITA, received the newly elected President of Ghana in Bamako on an official working visit on Saturday 8 March 2025 in principle to discuss relations between AES and ECOWAS. Finally, the two heads of state agreed to increase bilateral cultural and commercial exchanges and the availability of Ghanaian seaports to offer the Sahel Confederation an outlet to the sea.
In Burkina Faso, the detergent factory in Bobo-Dioulasso was inaugurated by a Burkinabe entrepreneur with the support of the ‘Banque Postale du Burkina’. The initiative creates jobs, responds to the needs of the local population and reduces the need to import the necessary detergents from abroad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix6xenNRIeo
In Burkina Faso, two new factories for the manufacture of canned tomatoes, a foodstuff particularly in demand in this region, are in full swing. The project works on the basis of a popular shareholding, in which local Burkinabe and numerous others from the diaspora participate. The local processing of tomatoes makes it possible to safeguard entire harvests, produce food at 0 km, and satisfy the demand of the Burkinabe market, with the prospect of exporting soon at moderate prices to neighbouring countries.
https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article134515
In Niger, the National Conferences, attended by some 700 representatives of Niger civil society, formulated a series of recommendations to be submitted to the transitional government for implementation. These include the drafting of a new constitution and the extension of the transition period to stabilise the country. Niger’s government is backed by massive popular support, which, among other things, has enabled it to peacefully dismiss the NATO military base from its territory in 2024.
https://rb.gy/s6bcgf
March 2025 saw the start of the use of the colours of the new flag of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) in the three member states.
https://www.aa.com.tr/fr/afrique/lalliance-des-etats-du-sahel-se-dote-dun-drapeau-/3490114
New AES confederal passports are issued from 29 January 2025. The old passports are valid until they expire. From this date renewal will take place by replacement with the new AES passports.
http://consulatdumalienfrance.fr/index.php/9-uncategorised/233-communique-ambassade-report-23
In March 2025, the first operation of the integrated AES force of 5,000 soldiers took place in the Liptako-Gourma area (three-border zone), which today suffers incursions by terrorist formations assisted by international sponsors interested in destabilising the Sahel to obtain the region’s natural resources cheaply.
https://www.pressenza.com/it/2025/02/crescono-in-africa-emancipazione-e-autodeterminazione-nonostante-limperial-terrorismo/
In December 2024, Mali’s new extraction code, based on the principle of mining sovereignty, drew the attention of foreign multinationals that were indifferent to the current regulations. The Malian government has repeatedly urged the Canadian company Barrick Gold to make transparent reports on the quantities of gold extracted and to pay the corresponding taxes. Following the multinational company’s refusal, the government confiscated three tonnes of gold and remanded some of the company’s representatives in custody until it had fulfilled its tax obligations.
https://www.africaeaffari.it/mali-stop-allexport-doro-della-miniera-piu-grande-del-paese-crisi-con-barrick-gold/
According to Reuters news agency in March 2025, Barrick Gold declared itself ‘committed to reaching a mutually beneficial resolution’ in Mali, and thus to accept the government’s instructions coherent with the new mining sovereignty code.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/barrick-says-committed-reaching-mutually-beneficial-resolution-mali-2025-03-08/
The sites on the march are numerous and it would be difficult to mention them all.
AES initiatives create resonance and serve as a model beyond the Sahel, the youth of Africa perceive that the peoples and governments of the Sahel are working together for the common good.
Africa is the youngest continent with the fastest growing population with 70 per cent of the population under the age of 26 and about 35 per cent of the world’s wealth in the ground. Considered by many to be the potential surprise continent of the 21st century.
This potential gives hope for better living conditions for the peoples of Africa, building a dignified future for themselves and future generations, benefiting from the riches and leaving the door open to anyone who wishes to cooperate in human relations of freedom and mutual respect.
Toni Antonucci (by invitation of Balla D., Bamako, Mali)
