Madar (Niamey) - Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, opened in Niamey a conference of ministers in charge of education and vocational training from the Confederation of Sahel States (AES: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), the Nigerien state daily Le Sahel reported.
The conference, held under the theme "Building an integrated, sovereign and resilient education and training system serving the development of the Confederation of Sahel States", is chaired by Burkina Faso's Minister of Elementary Education, Literacy and the Promotion of National Languages, Jacques Sosthene Dingara.
"It is indisputable that education and vocational training are the essential levers," the prime minister said, according to the paper. Dingara said the conference should be "a permanent framework for dialogue and consultation", for sharing experience, pooling resources and launching joint programmes, with a gradual harmonisation of approaches.
On the same day, President Abdourahamane Tiani received the ministers' delegation, led by Dingara, at the presidential palace. The Burkinabe minister said the initiative is part of the AES roadmap for its second year and that the ministers were expected to adopt framework documents founding the conference the following day; the paper has not yet confirmed their adoption.
