Lagos, Nigeria – Togo has not ruled out joining a Sahel defence pact forged by the military-led governments of Burkina Faso, Mail and Niger, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday.
“It’s a decision for the president… It’s not impossible,” Robert Dussey told Voxafrica in an interview on whether the small west African country envisaged joining the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
The leaders of Burkina, Mali and Niger formed the AES after seizing power in coups between 2020 and 2023, and quitting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
They have turned away from former colonial power France and instead sought political and military support from Russia to battle jihadist insurgencies in their countries.
The AES states also have stormy relations with some of their neighbours, including Ivory Coast, which are deemed too close to Paris.
“Ask the Togolese people if they want to join the AES,” Dussey said. “I think they’d say yes.”
Excerpts from the interview were made public during the day Thursday, with the full interview due to be broadcast Thursday evening.
With Togo, the three landlocked nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger would have access to the Togo capital and port of Lome for trade.
Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe, who took power on the death of his father in 2005, has emerged as a key mediator in several crises that have rocked west Africa in recent years — while maintaining ties with the West.
© Agence France-Presse
