Sahel States Embrace Morocco’s Trade Initiative Amid Regional Tensions

 Rabat, April 29, 2025 – Foreign ministers from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, collectively known as the Confederation of Sahel States (AES), have endorsed a Moroccan initiative aimed at providing these landlocked nations access to global trade through Morocco’s Atlantic ports. The announcement, made during a meeting with King Mohammed VI in Rabat on Monday, underscores a deepening partnership between Morocco and the AES, following the latter’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January 2025.

Morocco, a significant investor in West Africa’s financial and agricultural sectors, launched this trade access initiative in November 2023, shortly after ECOWAS imposed trade restrictions on the AES nations in response to their military coups. Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop emphasized the initiative’s importance, stating on state media that it is “conducive to diversifying our access to the sea,” a critical step for these landlocked countries seeking alternative trade routes.

The meeting reflects “the strong and longstanding relations of the Kingdom with the three brotherly countries of the Alliance of Sahel States,” according to Morocco’s state news agency. This collaboration comes at a time of shifting regional dynamics, as the AES has distanced itself from traditional Western allies, expelling French and other Western forces and pivoting toward Russia for military support. Meanwhile, tensions between the AES and Algeria, Morocco’s regional rival, have intensified. Algeria, which severed ties with Morocco and supports the Polisario Front’s bid for an independent Western Sahara—a territory Morocco claims as its own and where it is developing a $1 billion port—has seen its relations with the AES deteriorate.

Morocco’s strategic engagement with the AES also builds on its recent diplomatic efforts in the region. In December 2024, Morocco facilitated the release of four French spies detained in Burkina Faso, a move that followed France’s recognition of Rabat’s sovereignty over Western Sahara five months earlier. This mediation highlights Morocco’s growing influence as a regional broker, particularly as French influence wanes in the Sahel.

The AES, formed in September 2023 as a mutual defense pact, has been assertive in redefining its geopolitical alignments. The trade initiative with Morocco not only offers economic diversification but also positions the AES to counterbalance ECOWAS’s influence, potentially reshaping trade and security dynamics across West Africa. As the AES strengthens its ties with Morocco, the broader implications for regional stability and economic integration remain a focal point for observers, with the Sahel states navigating a complex landscape of rivalries, alliances, and external influences.