The foreign affairs ministers of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) held a meeting in Niamey, Niger, on Friday December 13, 2024, on the free movement of people and goods in the region. Alliance.
In a press release sanctioning this meeting, the heads of delegations praised the enlightened leadership of the heads of state of the Confederation who have made the satisfaction of the deep aspirations of their people an absolute priority. The ministers also noted the foresight of the three heads of state in their firm desire to strengthen, in a pan-African spirit, the mechanisms aimed at facilitating the free movement of people and goods in the West African region. They reaffirmed the highly strategic scope of this commitment, the implementation of which will have a positive impact on the lives of the populations of the Confederation. The ministers welcomed the conclusions of the meeting of ministers responsible for security held in Bamako on November 22, 2024 on the harmonization of travel and identity documents within the Confederation and their imminent release into circulation.
Added to this are the conclusions of the meetings of the customs administrations of the Confederation extended to Togo and held from July 22 to 25, 2024 in Niamey and from September 24 to 27, 2024 in Lomé. While recalling the irreversible decision of the States of the Confederation to withdraw from ECOWAS, the ministers urge the multidisciplinary committees to continue discussions aimed at agreeing on exit modalities in the interest of the populations of the Confederation. On issues of peace and security, the ministers welcomed the successes recorded on the ground by the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) of Burkina, Mali and Niger, as part of their common fight against terrorism. in all its forms. They expressed their positive appreciation of the coordination between the three countries, particularly with regard to the operationalization of the unified force before taking this opportunity to pay tribute to all the civilian and military victims and salute the resilience of the populations of the Confederation facing crises.
Nigerien Press Agency