AES

The Alliance of Sahel States, also known as the Confederation of Sahel States or AES Confederation, is a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, located in the Sahel region of Africa. It originated as a mutual defense pact created on 16 September 2023 following the 2023 Nigerien crisis, in which the West African political bloc ECOWAS threatened to intervene militarily following a successful coup d'état in Niger earlier that year. All three member states are former members of ECOWAS and currently under the control of juntas following a string of successful coups, the 2021 Malian coup d'état, the September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état, and the 2023 Niger coup d'état. The confederation was established on 6 July 2024.