Bamako, Mali, May 21, 2025,
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, three West African neighbors bound together as the Alliance of Sahel States, recently pledged $820 million to create a shared development bank that will fund projects across their borders. The Confederal Bank for Investment and Development, as they are calling it, represents their first major step toward economic self-determination.
The move demonstrates their shared determination to build economic independence together. This shared investment will support vital needs across the region, from roads and power grids to modern farming equipment. The bank’s establishment reflects the three countries’ growing determination to chart their own course.
As ties with former partners like France and ECOWAS weaken, the AES is betting on homegrown solutions to drive development and stability in an increasingly volatile region. Its launch coincides with the increasing shift of the Sahel states towards breaking financial ties with their traditional economic partners.
The Confederal Bank aims to drive economic independence, with a focus on key sectors. The bank will direct funding towards the Sahel’s most pressing needs, repairing crumbling roads, bringing electricity to remote villages, and helping farmers grow more with modern techniques.
These investments come at a hopeful moment. Economic growth in the region has been encouraging. 2023 brought encouraging signs across the Sahel. Niger’s economy expanded by nearly 10%, leading Africa’s growth, while Burkina Faso and Mali both recorded steady gains above 3%. Yet this momentum now meets a stubborn obstacle, the continued use of the CFA franc, a currency many see as a lingering tie to colonial economic systems.
The CFA franc continues to circulate in AES nations, presenting a quiet paradox. While Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger champion economic independence, their daily transactions still rely on a currency anchored to the euro and overseen by French authorities. This enduring financial link highlights the complex reality of decolonisation.
If the AES countries were to leave the Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), the regional economic and monetary organisation of eight West African states that use the CFA, they would need to recover their foreign exchange reserves, currently split 50-50 between the UEMOA Central Bank in Abidjan and the French Treasury. This reliance works against their efforts to control their own financial future. The CFA franc’s rules essentially handcuff their ability to make independent monetary decisions. As local commentator explains to West Africa Report, “Every time these nations use the CFA franc, they’re borrowing someone else’s economic rules instead of writing their own. It’s like trying to run your household when someone else controls your bank account – you might get by, but you’ll never be truly in charge.”
A 2024 report from the French Foreign Affairs Committee highlighted the incomplete reform of the CFA franc in 2019, noting that while France’s direct role in UEMOA governance was reduced, the currency’s peg to the euro and French influence persist, as cited in broader discussions on African monetary independence.
The withdrawal from ECOWAS also raises concerns about regional cooperation. However, efforts to maintain some ties persist. The BBC notes, “Ecowas will continue to recognise all passports and identity cards bearing the Ecowas logo held by citizens from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.” Similarly, AES chairman Assimi Goïta emphasised maintaining openness, stating in January 2024, as quoted by the BBC, that “the right of ECOWAS citizens to ‘enter, circulate, reside, establish and leave the territory’ of the new bloc would be maintained.”
In remote communities across the Sahel, daily struggles reveal why this new bank matters. Farmers watch their harvests spoil on the long journey to market over broken roads. Nurses deliver babies by flashlight when clinic generators fail. These realities make the bank’s infrastructure focus more than policy. It is about transforming lives.
The decision of the three Sahel states to pool their resources shows they are now betting on themselves and each other. Niger’s remarkable economic growth last year showed what is possible. Now, the challenge is extending that progress to every village and town.
In markets across the Sahel, traders still count out CFA francs, even as their leaders promise economic independence. Reforms in 2019 that were supposed to loosen France’s grip changed little in practice, leaving many sceptical. Meanwhile, the ever-present threat of violence makes rebuilding harder, especially with traditional allies like ECOWAS pulling back.
The new Confederal Bank represents more than just financial infrastructure for Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. It embodies their collective determination to steer their own economic future. The initiative comes as more African states are quietly but fundamentally reshaping international partnerships, seeking arrangements that better reflect contemporary realities rather than colonial-era legacies..
There are real challenges yet. The bank’s potential depends on solving three key puzzles. It must find a way to work within the limitations of the CFA franc system, keep investments safe in unstable areas, and build new partnerships without losing hard-won autonomy. As the AES nations chart this difficult path, their ability to maintain independence while still engaging with the wider world will shape their future prosperity.
