Madar (Dakar) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) agreed in Dakar on Saturday, October 17, 2026, to set up joint thematic working groups with a view to concluding a cooperation framework agreement, according to the joint communique read by Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore and reported by Senegal's APS news agency.
The groups will hold technical talks on areas of common interest, and "the results of the work will be submitted to the ministers before their next session", the text said.
Both sides said they want a "balanced, realistic" cooperation framework that preserves their countries' interests, and agreed their relations should be guided by "the principles of good neighbourliness, respect for sovereignty, dignity and the well-being of West African populations".
The ECOWAS delegation was led by Cheikh Niang, chair of the organisation's Council of Ministers and Senegal's foreign minister, and the AES delegation by the Burkinabe minister, who chairs the ministerial steering committee of the confederation grouping Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
This first formal session follows consultations in Bamako on May 22, 2025. The date and venue of the next session will be set later through diplomatic channels; ECOWAS published the final communique on its website on Sunday.
