Alliance of Sahel States (AES) are seeking to reclaim their national wealth and territorial sovereignty
Geostrategic Analysis
Over the last few years, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger through a series of military seizures of power have attempted to transform the political and economic relations between the former colonial power of France and the leading imperialist government of the United States.
All three of these landlocked states in West Africa are endowed with substantial natural resources, principally gold and uranium.
France and the U.S. have maintained a major influence within the Sahel region due to its reliance on important assistance in the areas of mining and military affairs. Since the Pentagon-NATO sponsored counterrevolution in Libya during 2011, the overall security situation in many West and North African states has deteriorated. Purported Islamic rebel insurgencies have surfaced in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
The existence of this instability has provided a rationale for Paris and Washington to deploy troops to the Sahelian states. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) along with French military alliances and formations such as the now-defunct Operation Barkhane and the G5 Sahel Task Force were ostensibly designed to bolster the security of these former colonies.
Nonetheless, the larger the deployment of Pentagon and French forces became the greater the danger being posed by the rebels to the civilian population and the governments of the Sahel region. The advent of military coups led by lower-ranking officers between 2020-2023 opened the way for a shift in domestic and foreign policy.
Those who led the military seizures of power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger had in previous years worked closely with Washington, Paris and its NATO allies. Annual military exercises coordinated by the imperialist forces enjoyed large-scale participation from the neo-colonial dominated states in West Africa and other subregions of the continent.
Efforts geared towards gaining control of these territories by their own governments were essential in improving the economic situation. Consequently, being in a position to realize genuine security is closely linked with economic development and regional alliances.
When Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger began to reach out to the Russian Federation for assistance in combating the rebel forces which undoubtedly have their origins in U.S. intelligence agencies, the governments in Paris and Washington became alarmed. In fact, they threatened to withdraw their “support” for these military administrations in the Sahel if the pro-imperialist framework was not adhered to in the region.
Mali Demands Just Compensation for Resources
For several months, the military-led government in Bamako has engaged in a running battle with western-controlled mining firms claiming that regulations imposed by the new administration were being violated. Although Mali is categorized as one of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the world, there remains tremendous deposits of gold and other important natural resources.
In addition to gold, there are diamonds, copper, iron ore, precious stones, zinc, manganese, bauxite, lead, lithium, bitumen schist, marble, gypsum, kaolin, phosphate, lignite, diatomic and rock salt. There is also wildlife including Black Rhinos, Lions, Crocodiles, Elephants, Camels, Leopards, Giraffes, Chimpanzees and various species of Birds.
In December, a report published on the Al Jazeera website by Lindani Zungu said:
“Last month, Mali’s government detained three executives involved in the gold sector from Resolute Mining, an Australian mining company. It demanded the company pay the $160m in taxes it owed to the Malian state. Foreign media outlets were quick to sensationalize the news, framing the arrest as ‘unexpected’ and claiming the executives were being ‘held in captivity’. Such language has clear elements of neocolonial framing that seek to portray a legitimate exercise of African sovereignty as criminal.” (https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/12/17/malis-gold-mining-disputes-and-the-fight-for-economic-justice)
Even though the Republic of Mali has been an independent state since 1960, the imperialists still consider the resources inside the country as being within their economic purview. These attitudes are influencing the hostility being directed towards Mali and the entire Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Neighboring Burkina Faso under the leadership of Capt. Ibrahim Traore was targeted by the former AFRICOM Commander Gen. Michael Langley with false allegations about the utilization of proceeds from gold sales in that country. All three AES governments were suspended from participation in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) between 2020-2023.
The reason behind the suspensions, according to ECOWAS, was the usurpation of power by the military apparatus. Yet, the pro-western purportedly “democratic” governments in the former French colonies and neo-colonies used coercive mechanisms to remain in positions of authority far beyond their constitutional mandates.
Moreover, the political and economic orientation of the neo-colonial dominated regimes was towards maintaining the status-quo by aligning with the imperialist policies towards the African continent and internationally. When the ECOWAS leaders discovered that the AES was serious about embarking upon an independent existence from imperialist influence, they were invited immediately back into the fold. The AES refused to reenter ECOWAS while enhancing their cooperation with the Russian Federation.
The same above-mentioned Al Jazeera article on the situation in Mali indicates clearly that:
“The recent tax dispute with Resolute Mining is part of Mali’s broader effort to reform its mining sector and renegotiate unfair contracts. Recent changes to its mining code aim to increase state revenues and ownership. Mali has also demanded tax payments from another foreign mining company, Canadian Barrick Gold. The Malian authorities accuse it of owing $500m in unpaid taxes and have issued an arrest warrant for its CEO. Instead of being recognized as moves towards economic justice, these reforms have been dismissed in Western narratives as disruptive or authoritarian. This framing obscures the moral imperative for Mali to secure greater benefits from its resources.”
These views on the character of the reforms being initiated in Mali and the other AES countries which are said to be unjust by the capitalist states where the mining firms are based, in reality, what the current U.S. administration is doing under President Donald Trump pales in comparison. The U.S. as the leading imperialist state is launching attacks on various countries throughout the world including its own allies.
The European Union (EU) was hit with a 15% tariff rate after months of negotiations and delays from the White House. India, another developing state, has been tagged with 30%. Britain, a close military partner within NATO, will pay a 15% rate of tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. Lesotho, a small landlocked state in Southern Africa, is being slapped with 50% tariffs on its imports which has already resulted in the declaration of an economic state of emergency due to rising unemployment within the textile industry.
The economic and politico-military pressure being exerted by imperialism will not reverse the burgeoning crises of the world capitalist system. Trump claims that the tariffs on numerous states are aimed at recorrecting trade imbalances even with other imperialist states.
However, the emergence of alliances such as the AES, BRICS Plus and the New Development Bank (NDB) are prefiguring a world system which is evolving. There is no way that the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the peoples of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America along with the oppressed and working-class inside the imperialist states can be suppressed absent of genocide and world war.
AES Makes an Important Contributions to Fostering Unity and Development
Mali and other AES states are setting an example for other African governments in desperate need to reclaim their national resources and territorial sovereignty. The Trump White House represents the desperate situation prevailing within the capitalist and imperialist states.
Mining Weekly website reported in a recent entry noting:
“London-listed Endeavour Mining and two other gold producers have agreed to migrate to Mali’s new mining code, government officials said. The code, which raises taxes and seeks to hand over big stakes in mining assets to the state, sparked bitter disputes with mining companies after it was implemented in August 2023, helping drive Mali’s gold output down 23% last year to 51 metric tons…. Mali’s biggest gold miner, Barrick Mining, suspended operations in the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in mid-January after the government blocked its exports, detained some of its executives, and seized three tons of bullion. The Canadian miner remains locked in dispute with the government, having since launched arbitration proceedings at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers, but regulatory uncertainty has weighed on investment and output.” (https://www.miningweekly.com/article/endeavour-two-other-gold-producers-sign-on-to-malis-new-mining-code-2025-07-29)
During July 2025, the Malian courts refused to exonerate the mining executives until there is what they perceive to be an equitable resolution to the current situation. These events portend much for the future of imperialist-coordinated mining operations on the African continent.
