Senegal’s President Bassirou Faye has been tasked by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to serve as a special mediator in persuading the breakaway confederation of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to reconsider their decision.
In a communique at the end of the 65th ordinary session of ECOWAS on Sunday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, the bloc named Faye as the “facilitator in engagement with the Alliance for the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger)” and will work in collaboration with Togo President Faure Gnassingbe.
The meeting was the Senegalese president’s first since he assumed office in March.
The bloc’s leaders met on Sunday after three junta-led countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on Saturday signed a treaty to establish a coalition called the Confederation of Sahel States.
They had earlier pulled out of ECOWAS in January following a spate of sanctions on them by the bloc. They have vowed not to rejoin.
Originally a bloc of 15 member nations, ECOWAS now has only 12 members after the three nations broke away. It admitted that it risked disintegration if it failed to successfully engage the three countries back into its fold.