# Alliance of Sahel States The **Alliance of Sahel States** (AES) is the confederation of the three military governments of the central Sahel: [[Mali]] under [[Assimi Goïta]], [[Burkina Faso]] under [[Ibrahim Traoré]] and [[Niger]] under [[Abdourahamane Tiani]]. All three came to power in coups between 2020 and 2023, expelled French forces, and turned to Russia for security. The AES is their attempt to turn shared isolation into an institution. ## From pact to confederation | Date | Step | |---|---| | Sep 16, 2023 | Liptako-Gourma Charter: a mutual-defence pact, signed weeks after Niger's July 2023 coup and the threat of an ECOWAS intervention to reverse it | | Jul 2024 | Upgraded to a confederation at the first summit in Niamey | | Jan 29, 2025 | Formal exit from ECOWAS, the West African economic bloc, ending nearly half a century of membership | | Sep 2025 | Joint announcement of withdrawal from the [[International Criminal Court]] (UN notified June 2026; effective June 2027) | | Dec 2025 | Second summit in Bamako; a unified military force inaugurated | | Jan 1, 2026 | All three placed under full U.S. entry bans; each answers with a ban on Americans | | Aug 2026 | Confederal parliament installed in Niamey | The members also share a common passport and have announced joint projects in energy and mining; the first joint energy and mining week opened in Ouagadougou on September 15, 2026, the eve of the alliance's third anniversary. ## The Russian bargain Each junta replaced Western partners with Russian forces: first the [[Wagner Group]], then, after [[Yevgeny Prigozhin]]'s death in 2023, the defense ministry's [[Africa Corps]]. Russia supplies regime protection and UN Security Council cover; it is paid in access and, in Mali, in mining concessions (see [[Security-for-Minerals]]). The bargain is under strain. In Mali, al-Qaeda's [[Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin]] has blockaded Bamako's fuel supply and in April 2026 drove Africa Corps out of Kidal ([[2026 Mali Attacks]]). A September 2026 investigation by Jeune Afrique, Bellingcat and The Sentry found that at least a quarter of about 60 drone strikes by Mali's army and Africa Corps caused civilian casualties. Mali has also bought Turkish Akıncı drones, which hedges its dependence on Moscow. In Niger, a mutiny at the Niamey air base was foiled in late August 2026. ## Why it matters The AES is the clearest example of Russian influence displacing France and the West across a whole region rather than one country. Its legitimacy rests on sovereignty politics, anti-French grievance amplified by Russian information operations (see [[Africa Politology]] and [[Russian Influence]]), while its security record keeps getting worse. ## See Also - [[Mali]] · [[Burkina Faso]] · [[Niger]] · [[Assimi Goïta]] · [[Ibrahim Traoré]] · [[Abdourahamane Tiani]] - [[Africa Corps]] · [[Wagner Group]] · [[Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin]] · [[2026 Mali Attacks]]