The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) withdraws from ECOWAS and continues initiatives for independence, regional integration, and defensive cooperation.

A source who asked for anonymity said Emptech is not involved in the production of the new passport for the three Sahel states.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso were to officially quit the West African bloc Ecowas Wednesday, severing ties after years of strained relations that have reshaped trade routes in the Sahel.

The withdrawal of three Sahelian countries from the West African trade organization, set to take effect on 29 January, has raised significant concerns among the diaspora. On 11 January, members of the diaspora gathered in Paris to call for a reversal of the decision and advocate for a return to civilian governance.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have officially left West Africa’s main political and trade group ECOWAS after more than a year of diplomatic tension.

"The rise of junta rule in the Sahel represents a complex interplay between decolonization and destabilization."

Military-led governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have made a series of moves recently to assert greater control over their mineral resources. Global gold companies have been in the line of fi

The exit of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso was the culmination of a year-long process during which the regional bloc tried to avert their departure.

A joint force of 5,000 troops from military-led neighbours Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will soon deploy in their troubled central Sahel region, Niger's defence chief said on state television.

The Sahel, a semiarid region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, has long been a focal point and an environmental issue .

Ghana President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday appointed a former national security chief as envoy to a new alliance formed by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, signaling his administration's intention to mend ties with the three military-led nations.

Together with its partner, Réseau d'Initiatives de Journalists in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and with funding from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the project "Appui aux médias pour la prévention- media for conflict prevention and management in Burkina Faso,