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As a peace envoy backed by Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, Faye is seen as the best head of state for a mission to bring the three countries back into the fold of regional cooperation
Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye (44), Africa’s youngest president, was tasked with bringing military-ruled Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso back into ECOWAS at the organization’s summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The three countries left ECOWAS and formed their alliance after military takeovers severed relations with their West African neighbors.
As a peace envoy backed by Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, Faye is seen as the best head of state for a mission to bring the three countries back into the fold of regional cooperation.
Faye was not yet born when ECOWAS was founded in 1975. Faye’s victory in this year’s elections, which were certified as credible, contrasts with rigged polls across the region. Senegal remains a key ally of the West. Under Faye, Senegalese authorities are renegotiating contracts with foreign operators in the country.
That’s exactly what the junta wants to hear, analysts say. Since ousting democratic governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the generals have cut military and economic ties with traditional Western partners such as the United States and France, believing they have failed to benefit their countries. The shift has allowed Russia to expand its presence in the region.
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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who was asked to continue as the bloc’s president as his one-year term was coming to an end, called for new and stronger partnerships to develop the region in the face of its “enormous challenges”.
