Africa's Biggest Pan-African Move in 30 Years - The Alliance of Sahel States (AES)

Three African nations are reclaiming their resources, currency, and defense from France,their former colonizer and neocolonial forces — building a working model of African unity. This isn't distant West African news. It speaks directly to the sovereignty and dignity of Black people worldwide. Arguably, this is the most significant Pan-African development in the last 30 years.

In September 2023, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger merged into a one block— the AES which stands for the Alliance of Sahel States (Alliance des États du Sahel in French)  — under the motto "One space, one people, one destiny."  It then upgraded into a confederation in July of 2024. 

WHAT IS THE AES? 

AES started as a mutual defense pact in September 2023. The purpose of the pact was and still is: an attack on one of them is an attack on all. The three nations ratified as a confederation in July 2024 in Niamey, Niger. 

The AES is led by a new generation of leaders: Asimi Goita of Mali, Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso, and Abdurahamay Tchiani of Niger. All battle-hardened military commanders in their respective countries. They formally left ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States (a regional block) in January 2025. Years earlier, each country individually broke away from France, their former colonizer. The three nations are reclaiming their resources, currency, and armed capabilities from the former colonial, neocolonial forces, and building a working model of Pan-African unity. 

Their movements have challenged the dominant post-colonial framework for African regional integration and asserts that Sahelian nations deserve institutions that reflect their own priorities - economic self-determination, food sovereignty, and security independence.

WHAT ARE THEY BUILDING?

The AES has basically five goals. Sovereignty first, collective security, economic and monetary independence, break with France, and pan-African integration made real. Here are a few things that they have done and are continuing to do.

1. Sovereignty first — reclaim land, borders, and natural resources; cut foreign ownership.
2. Collective security — a joint force (~5,000 troops, inaugurated Dec 2025) fighting insurgency without French or US troops.
3. Economic & monetary independence — pool resources; a Confederal Bank for Investment and Development (activated Dec 2025); a planned common currency to replace the CFA franc, backed by their own resources.
4. Break with Françe — exit ECOWAS, expel foreign bases, end neocolonial control.
5. Pan-African integration made real — shared flag (Feb 2025), anthem (May 2025), biometric passport, and a common market.

Individually, each country has redirected some of its mineral wealth to initiatives such as local industry, infrastructure, housing, farming, technology, and others. Burkina Faso has been especially aggressive in these and other projects. They have a joint military force, television channel to fight against western misinformation and a bank with nearly one billion dollars. And they are doing all this while fighting against insurgents (probably western backed) trying to destabilize their various countries.

WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL FOR BLACK PEOPLE?

Sovereignty - Control of land, resources, money, and security. Nations go to war when one nation threatens, takes away, or otherwise tries to take away their sovereignty.

When Africans (not outside forces) decide who benefits from African gold, uranium, and land, etc. we’re in a much better opportunity to rebuild and develop our civilizations.

Mali holds some of the world's largest gold reserves. Niger supplies roughly 5% of global uranium and powers French nuclear energy. Burkina Faso holds significant gold and manganese deposits. 

The AES governments explicitly frame their resource policies as reclamation - redirecting mining revenues toward national development rather than foreign extraction. 

In his book “Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D,” Dr. Chancellor Williams points out that our greatest gains came from and through unification. Our high civilizations (Axum, Kemet, Nubia, Congo, Monomotapa, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Swahili States, others), made notable achievements in spirituality, math, science, architecture, medicine, etc. and our greatest military victories protecting our homeland and freeing ourselves from slavery and colonization (maroon societies in Brazil, Columbia, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, and all the other places we were enslaved). Even here in the United States, during and after chattel slavery officially ended, we unified, used our collective resources, time, labor, money to build our communities. 

For Pan-Africanists, the AES connects directly to the unfinished work of figures like Queen Amanirenas, Marcus Garvey, Patrice Lumumba and Thomas Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah and many others to restore African people to our traditional greatness.