West African leaders have appointed former Guinean Prime Minister, Lansana Kouyaté as chief mediator in renewed efforts to restore dialogue with Economic Community of West African States-breakaway states Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Kouyaté, a seasoned diplomat and former executive secretary of ECOWAS, confirmed he has been tasked as “chief negotiator” with the three Sahel nations, which formally exited the bloc in January 2025.
The countries, now aligned under the Alliance of Sahel States are all governed by military juntas that seized power between 2020 and 2023.
Their departure has deepened regional fractures, with the trio strengthening ties with Moscow while criticising West African coastal states for maintaining relations with former colonial power France.
Officials within ECOWAS say Kouyaté’s appointment is aimed at rebuilding trust and “bringing the peoples of the West African community closer together,” according to reporters in Abuja. A source from Sierra Leone’s presidency described him as “a great diplomat” whose experience could help reopen channels of engagement.
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye was mandated to lead talks in July 2024, while Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama toured the three countries in March 2025—both initiatives failed to persuade the juntas to rejoin the bloc.
The diplomatic impasse comes amid worsening insecurity in the Sahel, where all three AES countries continue to battle jihadist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Kouyaté’s appointment signals a renewed push by ECOWAS to prevent a prolonged geopolitical split in West Africa and to re-establish cooperation on security and economic integration.
Africa News