Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye Makes First Visit to Mali as New ECOWAS Chair
Bamako — Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye arrived in Mali today for a 24-hour working and solidarity visit, marking his first trip to Bamako since assuming the rotating chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Faye took over as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on July 19 at the 69th Ordinary Session in Lungi, Sierra Leone, succeeding Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio. The leadership change comes at a sensitive time for the regional bloc.
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger formally withdrew from ECOWAS and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Faye’s visit is being framed as an effort to rebuild dialogue, address shared security and humanitarian challenges, and explore pragmatic cooperation on counter-terrorism and economic ties despite the countries’ exit from the bloc.
The trip underscores Senegal’s dual leadership role — Faye as ECOWAS chair and a fellow Senegalese official heading the ECOWAS Commission for the 2026–2030 term — and signals a more engagement-focused approach toward the Sahel.