The president of the revolutionary Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Assimi Goïta, has officially announced that the confederation will start issuing passports from 29 January. That’s the date the three member states – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – are scheduled to exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). AES citizens will still be able to use their national passports (with ECOWAS markings) until they expire.
The new integrated biometric passport will allow free movement between the three Sahelian nations of the confederation. The development signals another step towards the pan-African bloc’s ever closer integration – with goods also set to be allowed to pass borders without customs, in a bid to boost the economy.
This comes less than a week after closer collaboration in the security sphere was revealed. On 20 January, Niger’s defence minister announced that the AES will be forming a joint, 5,000-strong military force to counter terrorism in the region.
Despite ECOWAS – widely seen as a Western tool – trying hard to prevent the AES breakaway, the trio’s new passport affirms its resolve to maintain sovereignty from foreign-sponsored ‘African’ institutions.
Source