Some Ghanaians say they want to ‘join the AES’ – Russian media reveals

On Saturday, the Ghanaian president paid Mali a visit, where he conversed with his Malian counterpart, President Assimi Goita on several key issues.

During his trip, President John Mahama and President Assimi Goita spoke about bilateral trade and the subject of security.

They also discussed the big elephant in the room, which is Mali’s decision, alongside Burkina Faso and Niger, to exit thier orginal long standing regional Bloc; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

On Sunday, the Ghanaian president travelled its second AES state, Niger, where the subject of AES countries exiting ECOWAS seemed to pop up.

Similar to his visit in Mali, president John Mahama held a close door meeting with the president of Niger, Abdourahamane Tiani.

As is expected, both leaders touched on subjects that are mutually important to both their countries, including strengthened bilateral ties, improved and easier trade between the two nations, and more security cooperation in the Sahel and West African area to fight terrorism, as revealed via a statement.

“President Tiani raised the need for collaboration and recognition of the Alliance of Sahel States by the ECOWAS, with President Mahama emphasizing the need for greater collaboration to fight terrorism, which threatens not only the Sahel region but also countries further down towards the coast,” the statement read.

Subsequently, Ghanaians living in Niger’s capital Niamey, were interviewed by Russian media Sputnik to get thier opinion on the sub-regional rift, and a few noted that they share the same sentiments with the AES leaders.

“Today we are happy, very, very happy because our president is arriving here. […] Regarding the AES, we hope that we too will join it to support Africa. And Africa will stand tall,” Oumar Adam, a Ghanaian citizen residing in Niger, stated.

“Truly, it is a joy for us Ghanaians today to come and welcome our president John Dramani [Mahama]. We support the AES. We support the AES because we are brothers. From the beginning, we have supported the AES,” another Ghanaian expat, Vincent Tony, stated.

Citing the bloc’s subservience to former colonial powers and its incapacity to support their counterterrorism efforts, they announced their desire to depart their longstanding regional organization a year ago.