What the AES Means for Africa
“The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) is a confederation which realizes the distant dream of many leaders who inspired the Pan-Africanist movement, such as Kwame Nkrumah, who unfortunately were not able to realize this dream.”
-Farida Nabourema
The recent formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) has inspired a sense of hope and optimism across Africa. This confederation emerged as a mutual defense pact between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. All three nations are currently under the control of military governments which seized power via a coup. The aim of all three regimes has been to combat the problem of Islamic extremism their nations while also combating the French colonial influence in Africa.
Of the three leaders of the AES, Ibrahim Traore seems to be have drawn the most attention and support from those outside of his country. This in part due to comparisons between Traore and Thomas Sankara. The image of a Burkinabe leader sporting military fatigues and a beret as he denounces Africa’s dependency on the very imperialist powers which also exploit Africa is an obvious similarity between the two men. Like Sankara, Traore’s government has also targeted corruption within the ranks of the government.
There are some important differences which one must keep in mind as well. Sankara’s ideology maintained a Marxist-Leninist influence which is not apparent in Traore’s speeches. The circumstances behind these coups are different as well, with Traore’s regime being a direct response to the problem of terrorism in Burkina Faso. The fight against terrorism is the reason why Traore opted to extend the military junta for another five years after promising a return to civilian rule. The current government of Burkina Faso sees itself as a wartime government which is fighting a very serious issue that is facing Burkina Faso and other nations in West Africa, including Mali and Niger.
The leaders of the AES have not merely engaged in anti-imperialist rhetoric, but have carried out policies which have weakened the imperialist influences in their respective nations. In Niger, where Abdourahamane Tchiani seized power, American troops formally withdrew from a major military base. Meanwhile, Assimi Goita oversaw the withdrawal of French soldiers from Mali. As these nations seek to free themselves from Western influence, there is also a clear shift towards Russia. In Mali, people took to the streets to request Russian support for their efforts to remove French influence. Outside of West Africa, Russia also recieved support in the Central African Republic where the Wagner group was sent to assist with establishing security. Despite the pro-Russian sentiment in the Central African Republic, the deployment of the Wagner group in the Central African Republic was criticized by those who were concerned about the influence which the group exercised on the nation’s politics, as well as the allegations of human rights abuses which were carried out by the group.
One concern that I have seen raised about the AES is its connection to Russia. I think there are legitimate concerns being raised around the connection to Russia. We know from history that Russia has its own agenda in Africa. The Soviet Union had a history of supporting anti-colonial struggles in Africa which was certainly a positive for Africa, yet there were also ideological reasons for this as well. The Soviet Union was seeking to export the Marxist-Leninist ideology globally in an attempt to win the Cold War. This not only meant supporting Marxist liberation groups in Africa, but it also resulted in policies such as supporting the Derg regime in Ethiopia even as that regime was brutally oppressing the people of Ethiopia. Support for Derg also meant that the Soviet Union turned on Eritrea after having supported Eritrea’s secessionist efforts.
The move away from France and towards Russia should also be viewed in terms of the geopolitics which Africa has historically been entrapped in, especially the Francophone states. In the French speaking nations there is a lengthy history of French supported coups to remove leaders who did not align with French colonial interests. The three nations which comprise the AES certainly have a history of coups and political instability. The leaders of these states understand the international forces which are acting against them and the need to work with allies who can help protect them from these forces. Just recently, Traore accused Ivory Coast and Benin of being involved in efforts to destablize Burkina Faso.
Russia does not have the same colonial history in Africa as nations such as Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, and Italy have. Russia also does not have the same record as the United States has when it comes to intervening in Africa’s politics to orchestrate coups. It is for this reason that African leaders have often been willing to align with Russia as an ally in the struggle against imperialism. That Russia also has a contentious history with the Western powers also reinforces the view that Russia is a more preferable partner for Africa than France and the United States are. Even so, African nations who partner with Russia should remain cautious in doing so.
We know that Thomas Sankara was willing to accept aid from the Soviet Union, but this did not prevent Sankara from taking critical positions on aspects of Soviet policy which he disagreed with, such as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Traore has stated that he views Russia as family, but one hopes that Traore remains vigilante in his dealings with Russia.
Right now, the biggest concern for the AES seems to be the pressure it is receiving from ECOWAS. Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali were all suspended from ECOWAS due to the fact that the three nations are all led by military juntas rather than civilian governments. Recently there has been an effort to get the very same states which were suspended from ECOWAS to return to ECOWAS. This task has fallen on the shoulders of Bassirou Faye of Senegal.
Faye’s election was another recent event which inspired optimism in Africa. Even though the new government of Senegal remains critical of France’s colonial influence in Africa, Faye has demonstrated he is still willing to retain a diplomatic relationship with France. In Senegal there certainly has not been the same radical break with France as was seen in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Faye is also so committed to ECOWAS that he’s leading the effort to get the AES to rejoin ECOWAS. Whereas the AES represents a radical break with the established order, Faye seems to be trying to work within the status quo to produce change. The news that France is reducing the number of its troops in Senegal is a sign that these changes are happening in Senegal, but it remains to be seen just how far Senegal’s new government is willing to go to break with the French colonial influence in the nation.
The AES has good reason to be skeptical of ECOWAS. One should remember how Sankara was denied the ability to serve as ECOWAS chair because the other West African leaders feared Sankara’s revolutionary vision. This was mentioned in Fela Kuti’s song “Underground System.” There is also the previously mentioned concern that some of the states in West Africa are working to destabilize the AES.
What is most concerning is that the effort to get the AES to rejoin with ECOWAS is also being led by Faure Gnassingbe who has been working to rebrand himself as a Pan-Africanist. So desperate is the Togo’s government in its effort to rebrand itself that it has even taken to using Sylvanus Olympio’s image to promote the upcoming Pan-African Congress in Togo even though Olympio was assassinated by the very Gnassingbe family dynasty which rules Togo to this day.
The AES is a welcomed development for those of us who have advocated against French colonial domination in Africa. We wish that the AES is successful in its aims and objectives, but it is also important to be wary of the potential pitfalls which stand before these leaders as they navigate through the challenges which confront them.
