Ministers responsible for industry, trade and the private sector in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) met in Burkina Faso on Monday to discuss the acceleration of economic integration amid concerns about low intra-regional trade.
Ministers from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou to chart way forward as they sought to increase trade among the three countries.
Malian Industry and Trade Minister Moussa Alassane Diallo led his country’s delegation to the 4th ministerial meeting of the Confederation of Sahel States, which focused on the confederation’s common market.
The ministerial session was opened by the Burkinabe Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel
Ouedraogo and followed two days of preparatory work by experts on 13 and 14 June.
The Malian delegation included representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mali, the National Council of Employers of Mali, the Malian Agricultural Products Office, and the Investment Promotion Agency of Mali.
Their participation illustrates the authorities’ commitment to placing the private sector at the heart of the AES economic integration project.
Discussions focused on endogenous industrialisation, streamlining intra-confederation trade, combating unfair competition and building a more integrated common market.
The three countries also intend to harmonise certain regulatory frameworks and facilitate trade corridors in a landlocked region where logistical costs remain high.
Available data demonstrates the scale of the challenges to be met.
Together, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger constitute a market of over 77 million people.
However, trade among AES members remains modest.
In the second quarter of 2025, Burkina Faso’s exports to Mali and Niger reached 15.9 billion CFA francs, a 1.5 percent increase compared to the previous quarter.
The amount remains marginal compared to Burkina Faso’s total exports of 1,554.6 billion CFA francs during the same period.
The economies of the three countries also remain heavily dependent on raw materials and imports.
In 2024, Burkina Faso exported $5.6 billion worth of goods and imported $6.4 billion.
Mali recorded $5.7 billion in exports and $6.4 billion in imports in 2023.
As for Niger, facing persistent security and logistical constraints, it remains reliant on
a limited number of export products and supply corridors.
The Confederation has already established a common financial instrument with the introduction in March 2025 of a 0.5 percent confederal levy on imports from third countries.
The mechanism is intended to finance the institutions, projects and programmes of the ESA.
For Bamako, Ouagadougou and Niamey, the challenge now lies in translating political ambitions into concrete measures.
The success of the confederal common market will depend as much on institutional
decisions as on the ability of the member states to secure trade routes, reduce logistical costs, support local businesses and develop the processing of raw materials within the AES.
MD/te/Sf/fss/jn/APA