The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) continues to advance its sovereign development by establishing greater control over crucial resources and infrastructure while ensuring that public services can meet peoples’ basic needs. July and August saw inspiring activity in the building of foundational infrastructures required for development.
On July 25th, Burkina Faso’s President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, inaugurated the Pô Kapro Dam in the Nazinon region — built to provide drinking water, irrigation and employment. Last year, the government also revived the National Office for Dams and Hydro-Agricultural Development with a 13.5 billion CFA (~$24 million) investment. The office has already rehabilitated the Kokologho dam after almost two decades of inactivity and announced plans to dredge 100 existing dams and build 11 new ones by 2030 to boost food and water security. The Pô Kapro Dam had been promised multiple times since the 1960s but was never delivered. In contrast, the revolutionary Burkinabe government completed its construction in just 8 months!
On 15 August, Niger signed a $1.9 billion deal to build a 100,000-b/pd oil refinery in Dosso. The project will follow a ‘Build-Operate-Transfer’ model and span 16 years. Following 3 years of construction and 13 years of operation, full ownership will be transferred to the government. It will boost Niger’s refining capacity fivefold, end fuel shortages across the AES, stop expensive imports and turn Niger into a regional energy hub. Niger holds estimated petroleum reserves of three billion barrels. With this new refinery, the country’s second, it continues its transition from exporting raw crude oil to processing its resources domestically. The deal coincides with expanded energy operations in the region, including Niger’s joint drilling initiatives with Algeria on the northern Kafra oil block and partnership on the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project (TSGP). The TSGP is intended to transport Nigerian gas through Niger to Algerian infrastructure before its shipment to Europe.
These energy projects help the AES confederation assert control over its natural resources. They also build new technical partnerships beyond the usual Western energy companies and reflect a clear and coordinated strategy for economic independence.
The Malian government also continues to develop its local mining industry. Having established increased state control over mining through the new 2023 Mining Code, the government is making sure that the people reap the benefits through infrastructure and technical development. It announced in early August 2026 that it aims to utilize 500 billion CFA francs ($883.1 million) from mining profits in energy, water, and transportation infrastructure. In March 2026, Mali’s Local Mining Development Fund had redistributed $33 million in mining revenues to municipalities across the country, particularly small mining communities. Though the priority is to use the recycled revenue to fill gaps in critical infrastructure, healthcare systems and social services in these communities, the redistribution system ensures non-mining regions also receive some of the benefit. The government is also training domestic mining experts. Under a new initiative launched in August 2026 and managed by the Directorate-General for Higher Education and Scientific Research, 30 competitive excellence scholarships are available to train national experts, build sovereign resource management and support the local extractive industry.
Burkina Faso is also emphasizing technical development as a crucial aspect in the development of sovereignty. The Académie Technologique du Faso (Faso Technological Academy) is a major new elite higher education institution established by the presidency of Burkina Faso in July 2026. According to the government, the academy’s mission is to train professionals capable of designing, manufacturing and innovating to support the industrial transformation of Burkina Faso.
The government of Burkina Faso also continued to make clear that it does not submit to financing conditionalities that will impoverish its population while hindering its ability to industrialize and educate its people. On August 18th, the Prime Minister, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, confirmed that the country’s progress towards development is through the use of its own resources and the rejection of any financing that is accompanied by political conditions. “We are refusing funding that puts us under a dictate” he said after a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Administrator Haolian Xiu, referring to Burkina Faso’s “RELANCE” Plan (National Development Plan) which was launched in March.
The AES countries’ impressive record is based on a clear and practical understanding of imperialism as a system that undermines local development in order to accelerate the extraction of resources. On August 19, Niger hosted a conference on the theme “The battle for Sovereignty in the context of the Confederation of Sahel States: a historical and perspective view”, chaired by Bassolma Bazie, President of the National Commission of the Confederation of Sahel States. During the conference, participants discussed the Sahel’s colonial legacy, emphasized that local resources must benefit regional populations, and focused on boosting ministerial cooperation.
Niger and Burkina Faso marked their ‘independence’ days in August – Niger on August 3 and Burkina Faso on August 5. President Captain Ibrahim Traoré gave an address calling on citizens of the country to understand that the country’s hopes for genuine independence had been undermined by “constant maneuvers aimed at domination and the plundering of the country’s resources” which resulted in the impoverishment and insecurity of the masses. He called on them to remember their collective duty to firmly commit themselves to “building a new Burkina Faso — dignified, truly free, independent and sovereign”.
Long live the AES Confederation!
The AES framing itself as anti-imperialist while its security pact with Russia reproduces the exact dependency structure it claims to escape. Wagner's footprint in Mali since 2021 hasn't reduced violence. civilian casualties in the Gao and Ménaka regions have spiked. Sovereignty rhetoric doesn't equal sovereignty.
Expect nothing less from the AES, making steady gains and advancing🤞🏾A lot to learn from their struggle for those who want to