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AES in Good Position to Engage With ECOWAS, Pan-Africanist Says

In January 2025, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso marked the first anniversary of their announced decision to withdraw from ECOWAS. The AES has initiated many agreements, including cultural cooperation, plans to introduce a common visa, and the recent issuance of the AES biometric passport.
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The Confederation can dialogue with the regional organization "in a much more open, much more pan-Africanist spirit," Abdoulaye Nabaloum, the head of the Confederation of Pan-African Associations and Movements of West Africa, told Sputnik Africa, noting that this can be possible "thanks to the socio-political, geopolitical, and geostrategic evolution."
Negotiating with ECOWAS is the first major challenge facing the AES, the second being the creation of a currency, an "essential and very important" issue, he said.
"We will not be able to say that we have made this revolution without having the currency of the AES, or in any case the currency that is not this currency pegged to the euro, which is not this currency manufactured by France," Nabaloum stated.
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New AES Flag Presented to Malian President
The AES is well-positioned to leverage the launch of its motto to further strengthen and reinforce a spirit of sovereignty, the activist added.