By James Amoh Jnr/Benjamin Adamafio Commey, GNA
Accra, Oct. 22, GNA – Ghana is engaging the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) to promote cooperation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and strengthen regional security, Mr Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, Ghana’s Special Envoy to the AES, has said.
The AES, comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, formally withdrew from ECOWAS on January 29, 2025, after notifying the regional bloc of their intention to leave in January 2024.
Ghana has maintained engagement with the three countries and appointed a Special Envoy to the AES in 2025.
Speaking at a meeting of European Union (EU) Special Representatives for the Sahel in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Gbevlo-Lartey said Ghana would continue to engage the AES countries while pursuing cooperation with other countries in the sub-region.
“Since we have a Special Envoy to the AES, we continue to engage and work towards cooperation with all the other countries,” he said.
The meeting was co-chaired by Mr Neale Richmond, Ireland’s Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Mr Gbevlo-Lartey said the AES leadership had expressed the desire to maintain cooperation with ECOWAS collectively under the AES framework despite the withdrawal of its member states from the regional bloc.
He also announced plans for Ghana to host a meeting of a proposed Coalition of the Willing, involving countries from West and Central Africa, to address terrorism and other security threats.
He said the initiative would provide a platform for countries to coordinate efforts to tackle common security challenges.
Mr Gbevlo-Lartey commended the EU and its member states for their efforts to address challenges in the Sahel, noting that the region required careful planning, coordination, trust-building and cooperation.
He said the meeting also offered Ghana an opportunity to exchange ideas with international partners on the way forward.
Mr Richmond said the meeting demonstrated the EU’s commitment to the people of the Sahel and neighbouring West African countries, whose populations continued to face the humanitarian consequences of instability.
He said Europe could not afford to disengage from the region, stressing that the challenges required collective international action.
Mr Richmond identified values, security and competitiveness as the three key pillars of Ireland’s EU Presidency, with particular attention to the Sahel and neighbouring countries in West and Central Africa.
He cited humanitarian needs, insecurity, displacement, irregular migration, limited access to quality education, poverty and climate-related challenges as issues requiring urgent attention.
Citing figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he said more than 24 million people in the Sahel required humanitarian assistance.
He called for stronger partnerships and support for African-led solutions, saying no single country or regional bloc could address the challenges alone.
Ms Birgitte Markussen, the EU Special Representative for the Sahel, said the Union’s renewed approach to the region centred on direct dialogue with partners to identify shared interests and areas of cooperation.
She said differences between the EU and its partners should not prevent engagement, adding that dialogue remained necessary even when discussions became difficult.
“Seeing differences does not mean renouncing our values and principles,” she said.
Ms Markussen said the EU was ready to engage where common interests could be identified, emphasising the need to work with the United Nations, the African Union, ECOWAS and other regional and international partners to find practical solutions.
Mr Leonardo Santos Simão, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, welcomed the meeting, describing it as a step towards normalising relations between Europe and the Sahel countries.
He said the United Nations would encourage all parties to identify practical ways of working together for mutual benefit.
Although challenges remained, sustained dialogue could help the parties identify common ground and strengthen cooperation, he said.
Mr Simão called for closer collaboration among countries to combat terrorism and promote peace and stability across the region.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
22 Oct. 2026
Reporters: James Amoh Jnr/Benjamin Adamafio Commey
Email: [email protected]/[email protected]