{"id":48535,"date":"2026-10-20T15:08:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T13:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=48535"},"modified":"2026-10-20T15:14:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T13:14:40","slug":"ecowas-sahel-alliance-move-to-rebuild-regional-ties","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ecowas-sahel-alliance-move-to-rebuild-regional-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"ECOWAS, Sahel alliance move to rebuild regional ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a significant diplomatic shift for West Africa, representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) came together in Dakar, Senegal, to begin official negotiations on a new framework for co-operation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The meeting in marks the first formal attempt at institutional dialogue after nearly two years of strained relations, sparked when the military-led governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger decided to pull out of the regional bloc.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>While political and diplomatic friction between the two sides remains sharp, leaders on both ends recognise that total separation isn&#8217;t practical. Millions of citizens rely on open borders for trade, transit, and family ties, while shared security threats across the Sahel require coordinated responses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To address these immediate realities, joint working groups were created during the Senegal talks to draft a draft co-operation agreement. The upcoming framework is expected to outline rules on trade, security coordination, and the movement of goods and people across borders, offering a realistic way forward for the region.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29469,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-48535","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"ECOWAS and Sahel alliance launch formal talks in Dakar","published_date":"2026-10-20 15:08:07","news_description":"ECOWAS and Sahel alliance launch formal talks in Dakar","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48538,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48535\/revisions\/48538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}