Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has held talks in Freetown with the African Union Special Representative for Mali and the Sahel, Mamadou Tangara, as diplomatic efforts intensify to address security challenges in the Sahel region.
The meeting comes days after Tangara’s visit to the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States Commission in Abuja, where he held discussions with Commission President Omar Alieu Touray on strengthening cooperation between the African Union and ECOWAS in areas such as conflict prevention and peacebuilding across the Sahel.
The diplomatic engagement forms part of a broader regional tour by Tangara following a fact-finding mission to Bamako in January, where he met transitional President Assimi Goïta alongside Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.
The discussions come amid shifting regional dynamics after Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger withdrew from ECOWAS in January 2025 to form the Confederation of Sahel States.
Despite the political break, the three nations continue to engage with certain ECOWAS mechanisms, including participation as non-regional members of the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa and maintaining involvement in the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, highlighting ongoing efforts to sustain regional cooperation despite institutional realignments.
