By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW | 6 April 2025 (WorldView) — Growing impatience over the fragile security situation in the Sahel region and collective anxiety to uplift and strengthen their Confederation of Sahel States (AES), three Foreign Ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger embarked on a trip to Moscow.

Meetings held on 3 April 2025 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov undoubtedly boosted AES relations, marking the latest new chapter in building sustainable security ties and economic cooperation.

Ahead of the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry (MFA) said the Sahel foreign ministers prioritized perspectives on regulating their political crisis and focusing on economic spheres.

According to MFA, the three foreign ministries indicated in a joint statement that the visit was the first session of “AES-Russia consultations”, which aims at finding appropriate pathways in fighting jihadist insurgencies that have spread across the region south of the Sahara.

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, currently run by military governments that have taken power in coups between 2021 and 2022, have formed an alliance known as the Confederation of Sahel States (AES).

By creating their bloc, they expose the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) weaknesses and its long-term inability and incompetency to deal with regional problems, particularly rising security through mediation.

The French grouping later kicked out French and other Western forces and conveniently turned towards Russia for military support. The statement said that their foreign ministers will visit Moscow and hold meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at his invitation.

An important step

“The Moscow meeting represents an important step in establishing strategic, pragmatic, dynamic, and supportive cooperation and partnership relations in areas of common interest between the AES and Russia,” the ministries said.

Basic research and review show that besides instability, these countries are engulfed with various socio-economic problems primarily due to the system of governance and poor policies toward sustainable development. Russia’s renewed and full-fledged interest is focused mainly on uprooting French domination and supporting the development goals of these French-speaking West African countries in the Sahel region.

For fear and concerns about the new rise of terrorism and the sake of deeper cooperation and integration, the three Sahelian countries have turned to Russia. As expected, Russia has since offered tremendous assistance.

As a follow-up to the early April meetings in Moscow, several critical issues are on the agenda: military assistance to fight growing terrorism and efforts to strengthen political dialogue and promote concrete partnerships relating to trade and the economy in the region.

The AES has a multitude of obstacles, and the main problems emerged after exiting ECOWAS, the regional organization consisting of 16 West African states. Finance is another hurdle, among others. Nevertheless, the Russian Foreign Ministry explained in a statement posted on its website that Russia’s military-technical cooperation with African countries is primarily directed at settling regional conflicts, preventing the spread of terrorist threats and fighting the growing terrorism on the continent.

Arms and free trade

Russia’s MFA has earlier assured: “We will continue supporting it with the supply of arms and hardware and personnel training, including peacekeepers, as it is essential to help put an end to this evil and other challenges and threats, including drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.”

Regarding financing AES, the bloc introduced a 0.5% levy on imported goods on 31 March to finance its newly formed three-state union following its withdrawal from ECOWAS. The agreed levy took immediate effect and applies to all imported goods except humanitarian aid.

It also implied that the move officially ended free trade with West Africa’s ECOWAS bloc, deepening the rift between the three and regional democracies like Nigeria and Ghana. It is worth noting that ECOWAS sanctions imposed to force a return to civilian rule have had little impact as the Sahel alliance continues to strengthen economic and security cooperation.

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are among many African countries bartering natural resources. There have been cases where massive natural-resource projects were given away without Cabinet discussions and parliament’s approval. These agreements on resource extraction hardly deliver broad-based development dividends.

Nevertheless, the three countries have bilateral agreements with Russia. The three offered complete access to exploiting their natural resources in exchange for military equipment, weaponry, and training. Burkina Faso signed a Memorandum of Understanding on nuclear energy with the State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) during the Russia-Africa summit held in St. Petersburg in July 2023.

Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned security issues and economic cooperation during his opening and closing speeches at the summit, indicating its importance on Russia’s agenda with Africa.

In fact, there were five key summit documents, one of which focuses on ‘Strengthening Cooperation to Combat Terrorism, ‘ which neatly relates to this article’s theme.

Although Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have abundant human and natural resources, offering tremendous potential for rapid growth, there are existing deep-rooted challenges — environmental, political, and security — that may affect the prosperity and peace of the region.

Therefore, external support is badly required, and that is why the three countries have to look up to Russia as their economic and security saviour, particularly given the changing geopolitical situation in the world.

Fighting “neo-colonialism”

According to various narratives, Russia has embarked on fighting “neocolonialism,” which it considers a stumbling stone on its way to regain some of its Soviet-era influence in Africa. Over the past years, Russia has sought to convince Africans of the likely dangers of neocolonial tendencies perpetrated by the former colonial countries and the scramble for resources on the continent.

In pursuit of its geopolitical interests, Russia has ultimately begun making inroads into the Sahel region, an elongated landlocked territory located between North Africa (Maghreb) and West Africa that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

China is undertaking a giant economic and social transformation with human and natural resources. Quite essentially, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, within the geopolitical reconfiguration in West Africa, are desirous to ensure their political sovereignty and engage in development which Russia has expressed interest in supporting.

Indeed, the three have pledged to work together to find standard solutions and are oriented towards multipolarity. In this way, they could consolidate their integration to become a centre of influence and diversify the economy to become prosperous in the region. Undoubtedly, the three countries are expected to continue to advance their collective interests for the purposes of their development, prosperity, and stability. [WorldView]

Image: Joint press conference following a meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with Foreign Ministers of the Confederation of Sahel States in Moscow. Source: TRT Global