Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to Launch New Passports Despite ECOWAS’ Push for Inclusion 

The governments of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, under the recently created Alliance of Sahel States (AES), are preparing to produce new biometric passports to facilitate travel among the three nations as they distance themselves from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The three West African countries, all run by military governments, see the new passport as a way of “harmonising travel documents in our common area.” This result comes despite ECOWAS’s concerns that their removal from the regional group will “undermine the freedom of movement and common market.”

The new passport reiterates the confederation’s harsh attitude toward its ties with ECOWAS.

In July, ECOWAS tasked Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye with leading efforts to bring Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso back into the regional organisation. This was around the same time that the three junta-led countries held the first summit of the new AES confederation, five months after its leaders announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS.

“Our people have turned their back irrevocably to ECOWAS, it’s now up to us to create AES,” Niger’s head of state, Abdourahamane Tchiani, said during the summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger. “[AES] is an alternative to any artificial regional grouping, by building a sovereign community of peoples.”

In addition to Tchiani’s remarks, Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré stated that ECOWAS was subject to Western imperialism, particularly since the member states of the newly formed AES have severed ties with their former colonisers, France, and are unwilling to be associated with anything French-adjacent.

The foundation of AES symbolises the cooperation between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso while maintaining a collective coolness towards ECOWAS. Between 2021 and 2023, all three countries witnessed coups, with the regional union suspending each and implementing penalties in the aftermath. Last year’s harsh stance by ECOWAS against the Niger coup was critical to the three countries joining together for common goals.